TULSA, Okla. — A routine trip to the post office to mail a check cost a Tulsa woman hundreds of dollars.
Christine Weaver went to a northeast Tulsa post office to mail a couple of bills. One was for $50 but ended up costing her $300.
Weaver said she put the $50 check in the U.S. Postal Service's blue mail collection box at 4:45 Wednesday afternoon.
"I checked my bank account this (Thursday) morning and saw that a check had come through for $300, which I had not written," Weaver said. "So I looked at the check, and it had been made out to someone who I had no idea who that person is."
Bank records show the check had been taken out and cashed less than an hour after Weaver mailed it. It was taken through a technique the postal service calls "fishing." Someone stuck a glue trap inside the mailbox to trap outgoing mail.
Weaver said the post office told her they found one inside that mailbox a few days ago, and hers must have stuck to the residue left behind.
The Tulsa Police Department said after criminals steal the checks from the mailboxes, they wash them.
"They wash that check with some type of solution that makes that ink dissolve," said TPD Officer Jeanne Pierce. "They dry the check out. And then they can rewrite whatever they want. Whatever amount to whoever in that check."
Weaver said she closed her bank account and filed a police report. With Christmas less than a week away, she said this doesn't fit with the holiday spirit.
"I would have gladly given that $300 to someone who needed it, but to have it taken from me by someone who is just devious and smarter than me, it bothers me," Weaver said.
The postal service says it always check collection boxes for signs of tampering and already puts anti-theft devices in them. Weaver said she's going to continue mailing her checks, but will now go inside the building to do so.
"I feel like God is going to take care of me, and it's all going to be worked out," she said. "And God will take care of whoever did this and people that continue to do this kind of stuff."
USPS also suggests handing your mail directly to a mail carrier if you're at home. And don't put mail in an already full mailbox, it can be easy to take it out.
If your mail is stolen from USPS, you can call 877-876-2455 to file a report. You can also file a report here.
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