PIKESVILLE, Md. — Checks are going missing in the mail, and it recently happened to a Baltimore County man—twice. Despite taking extra precautions, over a dozen of his checks did not arrive at their intended destinations.
The first incident occurred back in October.
“I mailed five or six checks. I got a call from New York Life, where I have my long term insurance, and they said, 'You haven't paid your bill.' I’m like, I know I paid the bill. I mailed the check. It's in my checkbook,” said Ronnie Raigrodski.
But the check didn't make it, nor did the payment for his son's traffic ticket.
“We get a bill that they've doubled our fine because it hasn't been paid,” Raigrodski added.
He tried mailing more checks in December, except this time he was careful about where he mailed them.
“I'll put it in the mailbox right outside the post office. What could be safer?” thought Raigrodski. “I mailed the checks at the post office in Pikesville off Bedford Avenue – 13 to 14 checks.”
Once again, he said they all went missing. And he knows atleast one was stolen.
“This time, I got a text from Capital One. It said, a check has been written for $6,100, do you approve? I said, no,” Raigrodski recalled.
The money had already been withdrawn from his account, but the bank quickly replaced it and provided a copy of the check. Raigrodski recognized the check, but not the name or the amount.
“That check for $6,000 how much was it originally?” WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii asked Raigrodski.
“It was a $10 check written to the Komen Foundation,” he replied.
He then filed a police report. “Their solution was, don't put checks in the mail,” said Raigrodski.
WMAR-2 News reached out to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service about this incident. A spokesperson sent this response via email:
"Our Baltimore Field Office was not aware of this unfortunate event. We, the US Postal Inspection Service, do not discourage anyone from mailing checks as ensuring the sanctity of the US Mail is our top priority. As you are probably aware, we began to experience this specific criminal activity across the nation at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the US Postal Service initiated 'Project Safe Delivery' to address this criminal activity while also implementing various enhancement measures."
This strategy was introduced last March and includes changes to locks on collection boxes and investing in partnerships to better investigate and prosecute mail thefts and robberies, however, Raigrodski wants the public to know that mail theft is still happening.
READ MORE: Investigating internal mail theft: USPS customer believes mail carrier cashed his $3,000 check
“People need to be aware that it doesn't matter where you mail stuff. If you're putting it in a mailbox, there's a chance that it might not get to where it's supposed to go,” said Raigrodski.
And yet, he's reluctant to change his ways.
“Will you continue to write checks? Or have you retired the checkbook?” Sofastaii asked.
“Still mailing checks, maybe just not as many, but yeah, for a couple things but it's definitely going to go down because I'm learning my lesson,” said Raigrodski.
Raigrodski recently learned that another check from the December batch had been stolen. His $14 check written to Mercy Corps was altered to over $4,500. Fortunately, he had already canceled that check along with the others.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said they offer rewards for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of a mail theft perpetrator. Anyone who is believed to be a victim of mail theft or has information on someone involved in this criminal activity, can contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 or on their website.