NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It’s a scam we’ve seen before — criminals finding checks in the mail, erasing the numbers, then writing them out for larger amounts. It has forced the post office to make changes at mailboxes. But a local couple says they didn’t use a mailbox — and they still got ripped off.

“And I see a check for $1,330 kind of stands out,” said Carolyn Hall.

She was surprised, to say the least, when she saw the amount in her bank statements, just six days after she mailed the check on Dec. 5–originally made out for $380 to her Truist account. Bank officials told her the check was washed and then cashed at a bank in Chesapeake that same day. She fears two other checks she mailed then might have met the same fate.

“It was from a Costco account,” Hall said. “It never showed up, and I had bought our great-granddaughter a present off QVC, a switch bundle set, and I sent a check to pay for that never showed up.”

While it’s not known if those checks were lost while in transit or before then, Hall believes it’s something to do with this location. She told me checks and gift cards mailed by her neighbor and her sister around that same time, from the same post office, have also gone missing. She says her bank manager has had issues with it too.

“He says he’s seen, like 15 — 15 more cases, the last time we spoke to him just between that post office and Truist.”

It’s prompted major changes for these two — a new bank account and a change in habits.

“And now we don’t feel safe mailing any bills, which I pay online,” said Rhody Hall, “and I’ve talked her into paying online, or at least doing it over the phone, because cause you can’t trust the postal service to get the mail through.”

“And we’ve got grandchildren in Nashville that, you know, you want to mail them a little something, but you feel like they’re not even going to get it,” Carolyn Hall said.

They’ve filed a complaint on the Inspector General’s office website. 10 On Your Side also reached out to the Inspector General for a comment. They said they do not comment on any investigation, but noted that this type of behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and is a rare occurrence. They went on to say that the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees are honest, hardworking and trustworthy.