Statement for the Record before the Government Operations Subcommittee on the Hearing Regarding Mail Theft and Crime

The American Bankers Association (ABA) appreciates the opportunity to provide a Statement for the Record for this hearing entitled, "An Update on Mail Theft and Crime." ABA is the voice of the nation's $24.1 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional, and large banks that together employ more than 2.1 million people, safeguard $19.2 trillion in deposits and extend $12.7 trillion in loans.

Background on Mail Theft and Crime

Check fraud has increased over 385% nationwide since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the ABA and member banks have made combating this rapidly growing threat a top priority, as criminal organizations increasingly rely on check fraud to perpetrate financial crimes.

Check fraud schemes commonly begin with a theft of a check from the U.S. mail system, leading to check alterations and counterfeit checks created from the image of the stolen check. Criminals then move quickly from the point of theft to depositing the compromised check(s) into a bank account to steal money.

These schemes range from the simple - a street-level complicit actor taking an altered/washed check to a bank branch to deposit, to the complex - like a counterfeit check image being deposited into a criminal controlled account using remote deposit channels. Even using the oldest, most transparent monetary instrument in America (a check), the criminals can leverage the two most difficult factors to defend against bank related frauds today, speed and anonymity.

ABA and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) quickly recognized the need for cross-industry collaboration to combat the growing wave of organized check fraud. In March 2024, the ABA and USPIS publicly announced a formal agreement to launch a joint Fraud Awareness Campaign. The joint initiative focuses on four main areas:

• Educating U.S. Postal Service and bank customers about check fraud and what they can do to protect themselves
• Addressing money mules and collusive accountholders
• Collaborating with law enforcement
• Training bank employees and postal workers on red flags and prevention.

Download the statement for the record to read the full text.