RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) – Cynthia Hayes has a warning for anyone who pays bills with a check, mailed from their own mailboxes.
She learned the hard way that your mail is not always safe. She put her TECO payment in her mailbox, a thief took it.
Hours later, she received a call from her bank. Someone was there, trying to cash her check. They had manipulated the name and changed it to their name and modified the amount.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Hayes said. “It was $140, and they made it $340.”
Hayes didn’t lose money, thanks to the quick thinking of the bank teller who questioned the amount and the fake identification of the person trying to cash the check.
However, Hayes said this experience was a headache and forced her to make changes to her account and change the way she pays bills.
She worries that thieves will continue to do this, especially during the holiday season.
So, from now on, she says she’ll drive her payments to the post office.
“I never put anything back in that box like that,” Hayes said. “And that’s sad that you don’t have that confidence that you had before.”
If you have something you think needs to be investigated, contact Investigative Reporter Shannon Behnken at BetterCallBehnken@wfla.com or 1-855-BEHNKEN.
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