Crime & Safety

Woman Reports Fraudulent Charges After Check Went Missing from Mailbox

After check meant to a pay a bill disappeared, $1,500 in purchases were made with her checking account.

After a bill payment went missing from a Bethlehem woman’s mailbox, she discovered someone had used her checking account to purchase nearly $1,500 worth of items.

The woman told the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office on March 13 the purchases were made at Best Buy and Sprint days after an outgoing letter containing a personal check to pay a bill disappeared.

She said she placed the letter in the mailbox March 5, and when she noticed the mail carrier hadn’t come as she headed out of the house the next day, she decided to retrieve the letter and take it to the post office.

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But when she got to the mailbox, the door was open and the letter was missing. It was windy that day, so she wasn’t sure if the letter had been taken out of the box or blown away by the wind.

On the 13th, she discovered the fraudulent purchase while she was paying bills and checking her account balance.

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A purchase of $845.18 was made at Best Buy on March 12, and $606.45 at Sprint on March 11.


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