A Boardman couple lost more than $32,000 after their checks were stolen, washed, and fraudulently cashed, according to a police report.

Boardman police responded to a fraud report at a residence on Sequoya Drive.  The victims told officers they were alerted to suspicious activity on their First National Bank account earlier that day.

According to the police report, the couple discovered that several checks they had written for utilities and charitable donations since early March had been altered. The checks were “washed,” a process in which the payee names and amounts are changed and then cashed for significantly higher sums.

The victims told police they typically deposit their mail in various blue collection boxes around Boardman, including those at The Shops, a drive-up box on state Route 170 near the bank, and a box in Mathews Square Plaza.

The altered checks ranged from an original $52.79 check written to Aqua Ohio, which was changed to $5,510, to a $40 check written to Catholic Charities, which was altered to $2,000. In total, the couple reported $32,901 in fraudulent transactions.

A First National Bank's Assistant Branch Manager told police that all the fraudulent checks were cashed via online banking and were mobile deposits. The bank has refunded all but $5,510 to the couple’s account and is working to recover the remaining funds. The couple has since closed their account and opened new ones.

Police are investigating the incident as a case of forgery and counterfeiting.

The United States Postal Service warns that check washing is a common form of mail fraud. Postal Inspectors recover over $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders annually.

The Postal Service recommends that individuals deposit mail before the last daily pickup, retrieve mail frequently, and consider holding mail at the post office or having a trusted individual pick it up when traveling.