A few observations:
- The reliability of mail delivery has diminished markedly.
- The quality of US Postal Service personnel has diminished markedly.
- US Postal Service employees and/or contractors are stealing mail and committing fraud by altering and cashing checks that had been mailed.
I have had checks I had mailed stolen on at least a few occasions. For at least a couple of these occasions, I am reasonably certain that it was US Postal Service personnel who committed the crime.
A generational change has taken place. Younger people tend not to use the mail, and rarely write checks. Nearly all of their payments are electronic. However, there are risks with electronic payments also.
It seems we ought to be able to mail checks and feel reasonably certain there will be no fraud. Most of us readily recall when that was the norm.
My daughter works fraud cases for the Fairfax County Police Dept. She tells me that I wouldn’t believe the number of checks stolen from the US Mail .
That doesn’t surprise me, Fred. And here is the issue– sometimes it is players OUTSIDE of the US Postal Service who commit these crimes. But I have at least a couple of instances that I am reasonably assure it was committed by people WITHIN the US Postal Service. And it is happening much more frequently.
What a mess! And making payments electronically as an alternative carries its own set of risks.