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Woman Loses More Than $1K in Lastest East Harlem Mailbox Theft, Police Say

By Dartunorro Clark | November 7, 2016 4:26pm
 About $80,000 has been stolen in a string of mailbox thefts in East Harlem.
About $80,000 has been stolen in a string of mailbox thefts in East Harlem.
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DNAinfo/Mat Katz

HARLEM — A 65-year-old woman taken for more than $1,000 was the latest victim in a rash of check thefts from East Harlem mailboxes, police say.

The victim placed a $1,600 check in the mailbox at East 116th Street and Third Avenue on Oct. 26 around 8 a.m., only to discover last week that the check had been taken, altered to $1,100 and cashed, police said.

So far, there have been six thefts since August. In each, the check amounts are altered and cashed with forged signatures, DNAinfo previously reported.

At the same location as the most recent incident, a 61-year-old East Harlem man mailed 15 checks between Sept. 1 and Sept. 28. Last month, however, he was notified by his landlord that one of the checks intended for rent was never received, police said.

The checks had been altered from the original amounts, totaling $9,261.

Late last month, a representative from the Center for Urban Community Services discovered that more than $56,000 in checks were stolen, forged and cashed after they were mailed from a box on East 119th and Lexington Avenue.

Detectives at the 25th Precinct are investigating the thefts but have yet to have a suspect.

The total amount now stolen is  about $80,000.

A similar string of mailbox thefts occurred on the Upper West Side earlier this year, DNAinfo New York previously reported. In those cases, police said scammers used a sticky substance to "fish" mail out of boxes, opened the items and cashed checks.

Check out the updated map of the thefts below: