‘Don’t mail checks’: Wake County warns about check washing spike during tax season

Law enforcement is warning residents to think twice before mailing out a check.

Recently, search warrants were submitted showing at least two incidents of people being defrauded through check washing. WRAL News has covered past incidents of check fraud extensively, but Wake County Sheriff’s Office says this time of year, check washing picks up.

“We see check fraud every day but yes, it does pick up during tax season,” Sgt. Tyler Bullock with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said. “As people start to mail in their state and federal income taxes.”

Bullock explained check washing as a process where someone will remove the ink without damaging the physical check. They will then rewrite the name and potentially a different amount of money to later cash.

But he says, it’s gotten more advanced.

“They will take your check which has your name, address, routing number and checking account on it,” Bullock said. “Then, they will go into a [software program] and create a check with your information on it. They will create their own check numbers with it, fill it in, print it and go cash them the same way.”

One Wake County couple didn’t realize their check was stolen until well after it was cashed. The search warrant says the IRS contacted them in late 2025 saying it never received the check for the family’s 2024 taxes.

The check was written in April of 2025 and according to the warrant, the suspect never changed the amount, only the name.

As a result, the family lost out on nearly $3,000 on the checks they mailed out.

“Don’t mail checks,” Bullock said. “They will take it right out of your mailbox when the flag is up.”

It’s something that could take months, or nearly instantly.

“I’ve seen it as short as an hour,” Bullock said. “Check went in the mailbox, flag up, stolen, washed, cashed. I’m talking 10 o' clock and by 11:30 it was flagged as getting cashed somewhere.”

Since 2021, Wake County Sheriff’s Office has investigated 329 instances of financial fraud, including check fraud. While Bullock suggests not mailing checks, he has other advice to avoid being cleaned out by a check washer.

“Set up auto-pay or remember to pay it online from your computer,” Bullock said. “The North Carolina Department of Revenue has online resources to pay online via wire transfer or a debit or credit card. The Federal Government has the exact same program with slight variations.”

But if you must, get on the same page with your bank before sending off your next check.

“Set up a monitoring program with your bank,” Bullock said. “Have some fail safes in place. I’m never going to write a check for $4,000 so if that pops up, please flag it and notify me.”

And, as important as setting up those fail safes are, make sure you’re ready to receive the bad news.

“Make sure your home phone number or mobile phone number is up to date with the bank,” Bullock said. “So they will actually get in touch with you. Unfortunately, with checks, a lot of it falls back to the writer.”