Social Security and Tax Checks Being Stolen from Staten Island Mailboxes

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Authorities in Staten Island are warning that the theft of government checks from both public and private mailboxes is occurring at a startling pace.

Following multiple allegations from concerned citizens concerning the widespread theft of tax and Social Security checks received through the U.S. Postal Service, Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon called a meeting recently.

Officials from the NYPD's Grand Larceny Squad, the USPSA, the Social Security Administration, and the US Treasury Department recently joined McMahon and prosecutors from the Richmond County District Attorney's Office in an attempt to launch a cooperative investigation and work to identify legislative and prevention-based remedies to this trend.

McMahon estimates that his office gets at least twenty weekly complaints from locals who alleged they were victims of financial scams, deception schemes, or cybercrimes.

“We’ve had some instances where folks have been issued the same treasury check five times, and it’s been stolen each time,” McMahon said.

“You have local operators who are just doing it — going into the post office or going into home mailboxes or the post boxes on the street corner, and grabbing some checks and doing it,” McMahon continued. “I’ve seen quite a few individuals who are known felons who in the past have done drug dealing and have had gun cases, and now they’re doing this as an organized undertaking.”

Grandparents are also experiencing concern because a lot of them have gotten calls informing them that one of their grandchildren is in difficulty and needs money right away. “[Thieves] figure this out from social media because the kid is posting that he’s doing a semester abroad,” McMahon explained. “They find his grandfather on social media and call him up and say, ‘your grandson got arrested and needs bail money, but he doesn’t want you to tell his parents.’ That always gets to grandparents. They go to the bank to take out $20,000, and somebody shows up at the house, and they hand them the money.”

He added, “Despite thoughts to the contrary, the theft of these checks is not a victimless crime,” McMahon said. “The intended recipients, banks, the U.S. Treasury Department, and ultimately, the American taxpayers are losing billions of dollars to this check-stealing criminal operation."