Norwood Police Announce Mail Fishing Scam Lured Resident's Check

NORWOOD, MA - Police in Norwood are warning residents about a new scam where thieves are literally fishing for envelopes out of older mailboxes, hoping to catch checks they can alter for larger amounts.

According to a report on WCVB-TV, the crooks attach items to string, such as mousetraps, vertical blinds or bottles with a sticky substance and drop them into mailboxes with wide slots. They are hoping to lure envelopes with personal checks, which they can then alter and cash for higher amounts or use in identity theft crimes.

“Someone had taken one of my checks out of (the box), made it out to a different name, and they changed the amount to $20,000,” Norwood’s Carol Clough said in the WCVB-TV interview.

Some communities, including Boston and Wellesley, have installed mailboxes with narrower slits that have metal teeth, preventing anything that is put in from being retrieved. The slots are only wide enough to slip in a letter. These have replaced the traditional ones with longer pull-down handles.

The scam has been performed several times in Norwood in the past month, according to police.

Clough's account was drained, but her bank was able to recover the money.

This is a trend that has been occurring nationwide over the past couple of years. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a viewer of a local Fox television station reported a similar situation in January.

Locally, WCVB-TV reported in January 2020 that a Wellesley crime syndicate that started in New York was responsible for several instances there.

The mailboxes were installed in New York in 2019 after the scam started in the Bronx, according to an article in The New York TImes.

To prevent mail fishing, police recommend handing your letters directly to the mail carrier, going to the post office, or dropping them in the mailbox shortly before the collection time.