APOPKA, Fla. – An Apopka woman said someone stole a check she placed in the mail, rewrote it and cashed it, prompting a federal investigation.
Debbie Liebknecht, president of the Gentry Insurance Agency, told News 6 she mailed the check to Michigan at the Apopka post office on Monday.
She said she got suspicious when the check for $10,000 was cashed the next day, so she checked her bank app on her phone.
"I clicked on it, and it was my check, all right, but nothing on it was in my handwriting," she said.
The check had been made out to someone else, and it was deposited at a Chase Bank. To make matters worse, she said she has 17 other checks mailed out as part of her insurance agency that are now missing.
"They can just hang on to those checks and will use them later because they have all your stuff," she said. "They have your routing number and everything."
She said she put a stop-payment on those checks and she called police.
Liebknecht said she fears they were stolen out of the outside mailboxes at the Apopka post office. Friday night, News 6 found them to be wrapped up in plastic with signs reading "Out of Order."
Liebknecht said the more people she talks to, the more she's finding out she may not be the only victim. Now, she's warning others to check their bank accounts if they mailed any checks from the Apopka post office.
"I will bet you there's people right now that this is happened to that don't know what yet," she said. "I only found this out last night by total accident."
News 6 spoke with U.S. postal inspectors and they praised Liebknecht for checking her account and noticing the error. They said they are investigating and they want to find the people responsible.
If you think you may be a victim, call U.S. postal inspectors at 877-876-2455.