The Wellesley Police Department, which has been getting more mail theft-related check fraud reports, is advising residents to take their mail directly into the post office to send it on its way.

Crooks have advanced from “fishing” schemes that involved using wires and sticky mouse traps to snag letters through mailbox slots to outright stealing postal carrier keys to open those big blue mailboxes and then overwriting people’s checks and cashing them. Wellesley and other communities replaced or retrofitted mailboxes a few years back to address fishing—while that served as a deterrent, criminals have found an even more efficient way to grab checks from mailboxes.

While heading to the post office to mail your stuff may be inconvenient and fly in the face of local efforts to cut down on traffic, the message also comes at the busiest time of year at the post office.

The theft of mailbox keys and subsequent check washing has become a national issue, with arrests for such crimes reported from Chicago to Maryland. A Chicago mail carrier recently reported being robbed at gunpoint for his key.

Not only are checks being altered and cashed, but personal information is being stolen from them and abused. The Wellesley police logs are filled with online fraud reports.

The Wellesley Police Department is advising residents not only to avoid official U.S. Postal Service mailboxes, but their own residential mailboxes as well.

“We want to be sure the residents are aware that these types of thefts are occurring in towns all across the state and that investigations into these thefts have revealed that the thieves have keys to the blue mailboxes.  If you need to mail a check please do not use the blue mailboxes and do not leave it out for your postal carrier.  All mail should be brought directly to the post office,” Wellesley Police Lt. Marie Cleary said to us in a follow-up email.

---

• Subscribe to Swellesley’s daily email
• If you like what we do and want to help, please consider making a completely non-deductible contribution

Wellesley, Mass., police log for the week of Oct. 10-15:

On Monday, October 10, 2022 at 9:15 a.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party regarding identity theft.  He stated he received a letter from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue indicating he owed money for an unemployment overpayment.  He indicated he had never applied for unemployment.  The reporting party has reported the unemployment fraud to the Department of Unemployment Assistance on three occasions.  

On October 10, 2022 at 10:15 a.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party who stated she had taken an Uber from Revere to Wellesley to pick up some items before continuing to her final destination in North Adams.  She stated she left her personal belongings in the Uber and the driver left.  She had attempted to contact the Uber driver through the application and was not successful.  She also contact Uber and reported that the driver had left with her belongings.  She was advised to continue to follow up with the Uber company.

On October 10, 2022 at 5:18 p.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party about credit card fraud.  The reporting party had received a phone call from someone posing as Comcast customer service and stated they could save her 50% on her bill.  She was advised she had to pay $750 up front and could pay by sending a picture of a check or purchasing Target gift cards.  She purchased 2 Target gift cards and called the unknown male party back with the security codes on the cards.  The male party advised her they didn’t work and told her she would have to get more.  She became suspicious and ended the phone call at that time and called Target’s Fraud Department to report the incident.   The incident is under investigation.

On October 11, 2022 at 10:58 a.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party who had located a Schwinn mountain bike that had been left on the sidewalk on Beverly Road.  The reporting party had posted that she found the bicycle on social media, but nobody came forward to claim it.  It was transported to the Wellesley Police Department and entered as found property.  It will be stored for 1 year in case the owner comes forward looking for the bicycle.

On October 11, 2022 at 4:18 p.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party who was concerned that the vehicle in her driveway had been replaced with a replica vehicle that looked the same.  The reporting party felt the vehicle handled differently than her vehicle.  The officer was able to confirm by the vehicle identification number (VIN) that the vehicle was hers.

On October 12, 2022 at 2:40 p.m. officers were dispatched to the area of Washington Street in the Falls for a report of a black colored sedan with the passenger of the vehicle holding a gun to the driver’s head.  The reporting party provided a vehicle registration number which came back to a Wellesley resident.  Officers were able to make contact with the vehicle owner and learned that the vehicle was being driven by his high school aged son with a friend in the vehicle and that they had a toy gun and thought they were “messing around”.  The parents understood the severity of the situation and indicated that they would be speaking with their son about the gravity of his actions.

On October 13, 2022 at 2:27 p.m. an officer spoke to a resident regarding a stolen license plate from a vehicle that was parked in his driveway.  The last time he recalled seeing the license plate attached to the vehicle was on October 11^th.  The license plate was entered into the NCIC system as stolen which will allow the reporting party to request a replacement license plate.

On October 14, 2022 at 12:23 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party who stated she had hired a contractor to do some work and allowed him to utilize her credit card to purchase materials needed for the work.  She stated he made two unauthorized charges with the credit card and when confronted about it advised her that he did not have the money to pay her back right away.  The officer worked with the contractor’s attorney to have all monies returned to the reporting party and the contractor was advised he was no longer welcome on her property.

On October 15, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party who stated she inadvertently left a pair of Airpods in an Uber and attempted to contact the Uber driver to retrieve them.  The Uber driver blocked her messages.  The contacted the company who advised her to wait 24 hours to see if the Airpods were turned in.  When she called Uber back 24 hours later she was advised that they had not been turned in and she should file a police report.  

---

• Subscribe to Swellesley’s daily email
• If you like what we do and want to help, please consider making a completely non-deductible contribution

Wellesley, Mass., police log for the period of Sept. 20-Oct. 9

Arrests

On September 20, 2022 at 9:32 a.m. an officer was dispatched to the Farms train station parking lot for a report of two people arguing.  The officer made contact with the two parties and learned that they had been asked to exit the commuter rail train because they had not pair their fare.  A female party was identified and a query of her information showed there was an active straight warrant issued by the Dudley District Court.  She was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and transported to Dedham District Court.

On September 28, 2022 at 12:25 p.m. officers were dispatched to a bank on Linden Street for a male party attempting to obtain bank account information with what was believed to be a fraudulent identification.  The male party was located in the Roche Bros parking lot on Linden Street and identified.   A bank employee had asked the man for verification questions to confirm he was the individual on the ID he presented and he was unable to answer the questions.  He made an excuse and left the bank leaving behind the fraudulent ID.  He was taken into custody, transported to the station and booked in the usual manner.  During the booking process Heroin was located on his person as well as a credit card and check made out to the individual whose name was on the fraudulent ID.  The officers were able to locate and contact the male party whose name was the same and indicated he was a victim of identity fraud.  The suspect was held on $7,500 bail.

On October 6, 2022 at 12:20 p.m. officers were dispatched to a store on Weston Road for a report of a male party who appeared to be hallucinating and attempting to reach for things on the ground that were not there.  The officers located the male party outside of the store and identified him.  The store owner stated the male had stolen an item from the store.  A query of his information showed his vehicle had a revoked registration.   The vehicle was inventoried and while pills that the male party did not possess a prescription for were located in a bottle in the vehicle.  He was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner and held on $1,000 bail.

On October 8, 2022 at 10:05 a.m. officers were dispatched to a bank on Washington Street for a report of a male party attempting to cash a fraudulent check.   The male party was located inside the bank.  Officers spoke with the male party who stated the check was issued to him for work he had performed.   An officer spoke with a bank employee who stated the bank had received an alert that the male party had attempted to cash fraudulent checks at other branches.  He was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and released on personal recognizance.

Incidents

On September 12, 2022 at 4:42 p.m. an officer spoke to a male reporting party who stated his daughter’s AirPods had been stolen while she was at school today at Wellesley High School.  She stated she left her backpack unattended in a classroom when she went to lunch.  The AirPods were tracking in Marlborough and Southborough.  The officer spoke with the school resource officer the following day who stated the AirPods had been turned in to security at the high school and they were later returned to the reporting party.

On September 13, 2022 at 9:54 a.m. and officer spoke with a male reporting party from a car dealership on Worcester Street who stated one of their dealer license plates was either lost or stolen.  The reporting party stated the license plate could have fallen off the vehicle somewhere on Route 9 the previous day and they had looked for it and were unable to find it.  It was entered in the computer system as lost or stolen so the dealership can request a replacement license plate from the registry of motor vehicles.

On September 14, 2022 at 2:50 p.m. an officer spoke to a male and female reporting party about a fraudulent bank transaction.  They stated at approximately 4:00 a.m. they received a text message indicating a transfer of $150,000 from their bank account had been initiated.  The went to a branch location in the morning and were advised the funds were transferred to an account at another bank in the male reporting party’s name.  He stated he received some mail on September 6^th which indicated a bank account had been opened in his name and thought it was fake.  The bank was able to stop the transfer of funds.  They were advised to contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a freeze on their personal information to help prevent any further fraud from occurring. 

On September 14, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party who stated she had been receiving unwanted text messages from an individual known to her for several years and wanted advice on how to get the sender to stop contacting her.  She had told the sender approximately 1 year ago that she did not wish to have any communication but she continued to receive messages.  She was advised of the process to obtain a harassment prevention order and indicated she would obtain one.  The officer contacted the sender of the messages and advised the individual to stop corresponding with the reporting party.  The individual indicated they understood and would not make any further attempts to contact them.

On September 15, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. an officer spoke with a male and female party about attempted fraud.  They had requested new health insurance cards and when they didn’t’ receive them they contacted the health insurance company to inquire why and were advised they were unable to be delivered.  They contacted the post office and were advised their mailing address had been changed to an address in Indiana on August 9^th.   They also learned that a credit card had been opened in their name and were able to cancel the card.  They requested a police report so they could place a credit freeze on their information through one of the credit reporting bureaus.  The US Postal Service is investigating. 

On September 15, 2022 at 4:08 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a call for an elderly male party with Alzheimer’s Disease that had wandered away from the home.  Prior to arriving in the area the reporting party had located the male party.  The officer followed up with the reporting party and advised them that a SafeWatch profile would be created in case the male party wandered away in the future so that officers and dispatchers would be familiar with the male party. 

On September 15, 2022 at 8:46 p.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party from a business on Linden Street who stated an employee received a threatening text message from another employee that threatened to come to work the following day with a firearm.  The reporting party stated the employee had texted other employees while intoxicated in the past but was concerned about the threat made in this message.  The officer spoke with both employees and determined the employee who sent the text message was intoxicated and did not recall sending it.  The reporting party stated they would be terminating the employee the following day.

On September 16, 2022 at 7:45 a.m. an officer was dispatched to a residence for a contractor dispute.  The homeowner had previously spoken to an officer regarding the issue and was advised to place any tools belonging to the contractor outside and to notify the contractor where they were and when they could be picked up.  The homeowner did this and the contractor did not show up until 7:15 a.m. that morning at which point an argument ensued.  The officer contacted the contractor and advised him he was no longer welcomed on the property and would be subject to arrest if he returned.  Both parties were advised the dispute about payment for services was a civil matter that could be taken up with the court.

On September 16, 2022 at 3:14 p.m. an officer spoke to a resident about a past dog bite.  The resident stated that while walking on a stairwell in the apartment building the dog attacked and bit him.  The reporting party provided the apartment of the dog owner.  The officer spoke with the owner who stated she felt the reporting party had antagonized the dog in the stairwell by yelling and waving his arms.  ACO Smith followed up with both individuals, quarantined the dog for 10 days per state guidelines and learned the reporting party had received medical treatment for a puncture wound.

On September 17, 2022 at 12:57 p.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party who stated he had been notified by his credit card company on September 12^th about suspicious activity on the account.  He has an airline miles credit card and 2 airline tickets had been purchased for two unknown individuals using his points.  He disputed the tickets and was advised he needed a police report to process the dispute claim.  He was also advised on additional proactive measures to be taken to protect himself from potentially compromised information in the future.

On September 18, 2022 at 12:15 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the Warren building for a report of a suspicious male party.  The officer spoke with the male party and learned that he had been reported missing in Newton the previous day.  Contact was made with the facility where the male party resides and they requested that he be transported to the hospital to be medically cleared before returning to their facility.

On September 19, 2022 at 3:54 p.m. an officer spoke with a male party who stated several bank accounts had been opened using his personal information.  The reporting party had contacted the banks and cancelled the accounts.  There had not been any fraudulent activity associated with the accounts.  One of the banks requested a police report to finalize the closure of the account.  

On September 19, 2022 at 6:04 p.m. an officer responded to a medical call for a male party who had taken too much medication.  The male party denied taking the amount of medication a family member indicated that had been taken.  He was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

On September 22, 2022 at 10:55 a.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party regarding a PayPal scam.  The reporting party stated she received an email from what she believed was PayPal for a pending charge.  She checked her account and noticed there was a pending charge that she had not made.  She contacted PayPal with the number provided in the email and was advised they could reverse the charge if they would allow access to her computer.  They indicated they credited her account an additional $4,000 in error and asked that she purchase multiple gift cards to return the $4,000.  She provided the male party with the gift card information and then became suspicious and attempted to use the gift cards herself before they could be used by the unknown male party.  She was able to use one $500 gift card.  She removed her credit card information from her PayPal account.  She was advised to monitor her credit report for any fraudulent activity.

On September 22, 2022 at 5:41 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a residence for a male party that had made suicidal statements to a family member.  The officer located the male party at the residence who denied making the statements.  The officer spoke to more than one family member who indicated he had made suicidal statements.  He was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

On September 28, 2022 at 10:19 a.m. an officer spoke with a female party at the police station regarding a dog bite that had occurred around 8:00 a.m. on Standish Road.  She stated as she walked past another leashed dog it was barking at her dog and then bit her in the leg.  The dog was up to date on its vaccinations and was quarantined for 10 days per state guidelines by ACO Smith.

On September 29, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party who concerned about the noise coming from the pickleball courts at the Sprague fields.  The officer suggested that she speak at the next public meeting in town regarding the pickleball courts. 

On September 30, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. an officer assisted a detective from the Pasadena Police Department with a missing person investigation.  The male party who had been reported missing to the Pasadena Police Department by a family member resides in Wellesley and did not wish to speak to anyone in his family.  The officer advised the detective the male party was okay.

On September 30, 2022 at 6:04 p.m. an officer spoke with a female party regarding attempted identity theft and an attempted scam.  The reporting party stated on September 2^nd she received an email thanking her for opening a credit card that she had not opened.  She contacted the credit card company and canceled the credit card.  She stated she had also received a phone call from a blocked number from an unknown female posing as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who claimed there were drug trafficking charges being filed against her in court.  She asked the caller what court and the caller could not produce the name of the court.  The reporting party knew this was an attempted fraud call and did not answer any of the questions the female caller was asking.  The reporting party has credit protection.  There are no suspects.

On October 1, 2022 at 12:54 a.m. an officer was dispatched to a residence for a report of a catalytic converter theft.  The reporting party stated he was awoken by a buzzing sound coming from the parking lot and observed two male parties.  One male party was standing between two vehicles and the other male party was under a vehicle.  They left in a gray colored sedan.  It was discovered that a catalytic converter was stolen from a Honda CRV.  There are no suspects.

On October 1, 2022 at 12:11 p.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party who had received a text message from what he believed was Amazon advising him there was suspicious activity on his account.  They asked via test for the account holder’s date of birth, social security number and mother’s maiden name.  After providing the information he felt that it might have been a scam and contacted Amazon and learned they had not contacted him about suspicious charges to his account.  The male party began putting security settings on his bank and credit card accounts.  He was advised to monitor his credit with one of the major credit reporting bureaus and to contact the police if he noticed anything suspicious on any of his accounts. 

On October 1, 2022 at 9:30 p.m. officers responded to a noise complaint at a residence and found a large group of youths in the back yard of the residence consuming alcohol.  Many of the youths ran from the area when they observed the officers.  Parents were present at the home and stated they did not provide any alcohol to the minors, but suspected some of the youths that arrived at the party may have brought their own alcohol.  The officers contacted the parents of several of the youths present at the party.  The parents of the host of the party were summonsed to Dedham District Court for Furnishing Alcohol to Minors.

On October 2, 2022 at 9:43 a.m. an officer spoke with a resident who stated he noticed suspicious activity captured on his Ring camera at 6:06 a.m.  A male party attempted to gain entry into two locked vehicles in his driveway.  The male party left the property when he was unable to gain access to the locked vehicles. 

On October 6, 2022 detectives applied for a search warrant for an apartment in Wellesley.  The detectives had been contacted by a law enforcement agency in Florida regarding an identity theft investigation that had been reported to them.  A resident in their community had her personal information used to rent an apartment in Wellesley without her knowledge.  The unknown individual who utilized her personal information sublet the apartment to a male party who paid approximately $6,000 in cash for 6 months rent.  The incident is under investigation.

On October 5, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. an officer spoke with a resident regarding the theft of a Catalytic converter from her vehicle which was parked in the driveway of her apartment building overnight.   An employee reviewed the security footage and a White Toyota pickup truck can be seen on the video around 1:20 a.m. on October 4^th.  She stated she brought the car to the dealership and they estimate the cost to repair the vehicle would be $3,800.  

On October 9, 2022 at 11:45 p.m. officers were dispatched to the area of Croton Street for a report of 2 individuals damaging Halloween decorations.  The reporting party stated he heard loud music outside of his home at 11:40 p.m. and when he went outside he observed a male party tampering with a large inflatable dragon decoration.  He stated the wing of the dragon was damaged.  The officer checked with neighbors the following day to determine if anyone had an outdoor camera that might have captured an image of the vehicle or the individuals involved.  No video was captured.  There are no suspects.

---

• Subscribe to Swellesley’s daily email
• If you like what we do and want to help, please consider making a completely non-deductible contribution

The Wellesley, Mass., police log for the week of Sept. 6-11:

On September 6, 2022 at 10:59 p.m. an officer was dispatched to Worcester Street for a report of a motorist that had made suicidal statements earlier in the evening.  The officer located the vehicle and made contact with the individual who had cut their wrist and was bleeding.  The party agreed to go to the hospital for evaluation.

On September 7, 2022 at 8:25 a.m. an officer was dispatched to an office building on Washington Street for a report of a male party who was asleep on the floor in the second floor hallway.  The officer was familiar with this male party.  He woke the male party up, advised him he was trespassing and that the property owner did not want him to return to the building.  

On September 7, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. an officer spoke to a female party who had fallen victim to a computer scam.  She received an email that was allegedly from Norton Security indicating she owed the company $290.44.  She called the number provided and was advised she did owe the money and allowed the scammer access to her computer remotely so she could pay the bill.  The scammer stated that they inadvertently deposited $20,000 to her account and sent a fraudulent bank statement to her printer.  She was instructed by another male party to withdraw $19,000 from her bank account and mail it to an address in Houston, Texas.  She received a call from a male party who stated they only received $13,000 and she still needed to refund them another $7,000.  She withdrew those funds from the bank and sent them to a different individual at the same address in Houston, Texas.  She became suspicious of the transactions, stopped answering the phone and turned off her computer.  The officer requested a subpoena for the phone number that was associated with the calls to the reporting party.   The investigation revealed the phone number was registered to an individual overseas in West Bengal.  

On September 7, 2022 1:43 p.m. ACO Smith was dispatched for a report of a dog bite.  ACO Smith spoke with the reporting party who stated while walking her dog a large dog ran out from a yard and attacked her and her dog, biting them both.  ACO Smith spoke with the owner of the dog and learned the dog was tied up unattended outside and broke its collar.  She advised the dog owner that the dog cannot be left outside unattended and suggested they get training for the dog.  ACO Smith will follow up to ensure the dog is not left outside unattended in the future. 

On September 7, 2022 at 4:23 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the parking lot area of the Wellesley Police Station for a report of two female parties who were acting suspicious.  The officer spoke with one of the female parties and learned that she had been criminally charged with stealing supplies from a hair salon and was ordered by the judge to return the items to the owner.  The officer contacted the female party’s attorney and confirmed this information.  Messages were left for the owner of the property to retrieve the items at the police station.

On September 8, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. an officer spoke with a 14-year-old male party who had purchased a pair of sneakers he saw for sale on social media.  He felt he was being scammed because he sent the money for the sneakers and had not received them yet.  The officer determined the account he purchased the sneakers from originated in Canada and it may take a few days for the sneakers to be delivered. 

On September 9, 2022 at 9:00 p.m. officers were dispatched to Morses Pond for a noise complaint.   They observed approximately 10 youths that ran into the woods when they saw the police.  The youths were consuming alcohol and eventually exited the wooded area to speak with the officers.  The officers made contact with the parents of the youths present and arranged for them to be picked up.   

On September 10, 2022 at 2:45 p.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party regarding fraudulent activity with a credit card and bank account.  He stated he began reviewing his credit card statements and noticed some fraudulent activity and went back further and believes there is a total of 16 fraudulent charges.  He notified the bank and credit card company who will be opening an investigation.

On September 11, 2022 at 12:16 a.m. an officer was dispatched to the Bacon Street Bridge for a report of graffiti.  The spray paint stated, “Destroy this world with paint,”  There are no suspects.

---

More: Pink Patch campaign honors Wellesley Police chief’s wife