EAST HARLEM — More checks were stolen from a neighborhood mailbox before being altered and cashed — the latest in more than a dozen similar mail "fishing" incidents Uptown.
A 26-year-old woman told police she dropped two checks of an undisclosed amount in a mailbox on East 135th Street and Madison Avenue Feb. 25 and March 23.
But the checks never made it to their destinations and were altered to reflect a total of $2,566 before being cashed, police said.
There have a been dozens of reports of checks stolen from mailboxes in the neighborhood, with thieves using a sticky substance to trap mail in the boxes before fishing the pieces out.
Police have been actively investigating the crimes along with the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service.
Check where thefts have been reported below:
