So, just spent the last 4 hours at the police station and the bank.
I recently sold a business that operated in all 50 states, and due to certain regulatory constructs, I personally owe taxes in over 38 states from the sale proceeds. Some of the states do not accept electronic payments and require physical checks, so last week, I mailed out 15 checks to states like Rhode Island and South Carolina.
All checks were mailed in normal envelopes, dropped off at my local Beverly Hills post office.
I got a call today from the Huntington Beach branch of my bank, asking if I has written a check to a Tony Sotelo for lawn care services. I hadn’t, and asked for the check number. It matched to the check I had written to the South Carolina department of revenue. I rushed to the bank and found that the Rhode Island check had been washed and re-written to a Ana Wilkinson Flores / presented at a Torrance Wells Fargo, and Michigan check had been written to a John Fraser / presented at a downtown Wells Fargo.
I had to completely close out my account and reopen a new one, but the scary part is this: I physically handed my checks to the lady behind the counter at the USPS. Which means someone in that post office physically stole the envelopes / checks based on the addressee.
Be very careful indeed.
I recently sold a business that operated in all 50 states, and due to certain regulatory constructs, I personally owe taxes in over 38 states from the sale proceeds. Some of the states do not accept electronic payments and require physical checks, so last week, I mailed out 15 checks to states like Rhode Island and South Carolina.
All checks were mailed in normal envelopes, dropped off at my local Beverly Hills post office.
I got a call today from the Huntington Beach branch of my bank, asking if I has written a check to a Tony Sotelo for lawn care services. I hadn’t, and asked for the check number. It matched to the check I had written to the South Carolina department of revenue. I rushed to the bank and found that the Rhode Island check had been washed and re-written to a Ana Wilkinson Flores / presented at a Torrance Wells Fargo, and Michigan check had been written to a John Fraser / presented at a downtown Wells Fargo.
I had to completely close out my account and reopen a new one, but the scary part is this: I physically handed my checks to the lady behind the counter at the USPS. Which means someone in that post office physically stole the envelopes / checks based on the addressee.
Be very careful indeed.