I spoke to my 88 year old mom last night. She said that she received a phone bill this month indicating that she was overdue on the previous month's bill. She checked her records and saw that she did pay the bill. A call to her bank, and some investigation on their part showed, that a check she had written to Verizon for $50, had been altered to $950.00, and the part where you write the amount had "nine" written in front of the "fifty" she had written. on the back it said "pay to Anthony Costa" or some name I can't recall, and cashed for $950.00.

Verizon waived the late fee, and it will take a little time but the bank will pay her back her money.

I don't understand how a check she put in the mail got altered....and cashed, when it was made out to Verizon, not the person who cashed it, and how it got cashed....

has anyone heard of this happening?

thanks

Contact the bank, verizon and the police.

your poor mom! sorry this happened to her. i can't imagine that any bank would cash something that obviously faked. hope it gets cleared up with minimal stress to her.

Where ever she mailed it, there is a dishonest person who opened the mail, took the check and altered it, and cashed it. I'm assuming she mailed it to Verizon, so that's where the crook most likely is (or was).

I haven't seen this happen in a long, long time. If she wants to continue paying by check, make sure she uses the entire amount line on the check. For instance, write "Fifty and xx/00---------------------------" with "Fifty" being at the very edge of the left margin, and that line making it extremely hard for anyone to alter the amount.

Sorry that happened to her. Good luck in the future!

RodeoSchro said:

Where ever she mailed it, there is a dishonest person who opened the mail, took the check and altered it, and cashed it. I'm assuming she mailed it to Verizon, so that's where the crook most likely is (or was).

I haven't seen this happen in a long, long time. If she wants to continue paying by check, make sure she uses the entire amount line on the check. For instance, write "Fifty and xx/00---------------------------" with "Fifty" being at the very edge of the left margin, and that line making it extremely hard for anyone to alter the amount.

Sorry that happened to her. Good luck in the future!

CharlieGriffin said:

RodeoSchro said:

Where ever she mailed it, there is a dishonest person who opened the mail, took the check and altered it, and cashed it. I'm assuming she mailed it to Verizon, so that's where the crook most likely is (or was).

I haven't seen this happen in a long, long time. If she wants to continue paying by check, make sure she uses the entire amount line on the check. For instance, write "Fifty and xx/00---------------------------" with "Fifty" being at the very edge of the left margin, and that line making it extremely hard for anyone to alter the amount.

Sorry that happened to her. Good luck in the future!

Y'all are naive if you think nobody working for the USPS could have done it.

Did she leave the payment in her mailbox to be picked up by the mailman? Somebody could have taken it from her box before the mailman ever got to it. Let's not rush to the conclusion that it had to be Verizon.