"...Three men are facing federal charges in an alleged scheme to steal checks from U.S. mail, alter them and try to deposit them into bank accounts.
Jeffrey Bennett, 31, of Irvington and Rahway; Aquil Hubbard, 31, of Newark and Middlesex; and Tashon Ragan, 26, of Union have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. ..."
"...Officials said the scheme involved the unlawful acquisition of check information by Vincent Galliard, a former USPS employee, who stole checks from the mail and sold them to the suspects. ..."
"...The Postal Service’s surge in mail theft cases contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in suspected check fraud cases last year, according to a recent Treasury Department analysis.
Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) received more than 15,400 reports of suspected mail theft-related check fraud under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) from more than 840 financial institutions between February and August 2023. ..."
"...latest scam is the Mystery Shopper where an individual shops at a store and reports their experience in order to receive a reimbursement check..."
