New Canaan’s police chief said the department is getting reports about checks being stolen in New Canaan, altered and then cashed out-of-state.
The area has seen a rise in crimes where thieves target both residential and postal drop mailboxes, according to Chief Leon Krolikowski.
“Whenever possible, residents should bring mail that contains checks or sensitive financial documents directly to our local Post Office,” he said.
New Canaan Police last year made multiple arrests following a 15-month investigation that led to thieves who had stolen checks from mailboxes here over a long period of time. In those cases, checks that had been placed in mailboxes to be mailed were stolen and the payee information was altered. Then, the checks were deposited into multiple bank accounts via a mobile device, police said.