LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said it is investigating multiple cases of check fraud in the county.
Meagan Milne said she pays all of her bills online except for one. Earlier this month, she mailed a check using her community mailbox.
WATCH: Lakewood Ranch homeowners report mail fraud after mailing checks
She did not think twice about it until she noticed someone cashed the same check twice.
"I rarely ever mail checks because everything is done electronically, but I have one check that has to go to a recipient who only accepts check so I mailed it," she said.
She said about five days after she mailed the check, she noticed more than $6,500 missing from her account.
"It wasn't until I was looking at my monthly statement when I noticed the same check got cashed twice for the same amount," she said.
She looked at the images of the check in her account.
"The check had been whited out and someone had put their own name in there," she said.
"It was no longer written to the person I had written it to and someone else's handwriting and, yeah, they were able to get a fair amount of money," she added.
She reported the fraud to the United States Postal Service and contacted her bank. She said her bank was able to refund her money.
A spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said it is investigating multiple cases of check fraud in the county, but cannot release any specific details at this time.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said a U.S. Postal Inspector is investigating mail theft in the Lakewood Ranch area.
Milne hopes people keep a close eye on their bank accounts.
"Thought about, you know, somebody who lives check to check. This could be devastating. They start bouncing checks, losing that amount of money for however long it takes for the bank to reimburse assuming they can get reimbursed. I mean, that could be horrible for someone so anyway I just thought it would be good to get the word out," she said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said if you see someone suspicious lurking near a USPS blue collection box after dark, call the police immediately, then report it to the US Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455. If you believe your mail was stolen, report it immediately online or by calling 877-876-2455.
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