Several Southern Indiana residents say they are stuck in limbo after discovering that checks they mailed were altered.
NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WAVE) – Many residents say they recently realized that checks they placed in the mail had been tampered with.
Now, they are demanding answers and greater transparency.
WAVE spoke with multiple people Tuesday who said they had used the New Albany Post Office for years without any issues—until now.
They said the lack of clear communication from city agencies has pushed them to warn others so the same situation does not happen again.
A few days ago, Bobby and Debbie Wilburn went to the New Albany Post Office to mail 26 checks to their employees, placing them in the blue drop box as they had done for 30 years. This time, however, things went wrong.
“Three of them got to the right place, three of them was fraud, and there’s 20 still out there floating around somewhere,” Debbie said.
The Wilburns shared photos showing three fraudulent checks totaling $14,000. The suspects appear to have bleached the checks and replaced the original names with fake ones.
“Now we’re using credit cards and have to pay the 3% because we don’t know where to take our check to no more,” Bobby said.
The couple has since closed the bank account linked to those checks, filed a police report, and shared their experience on Facebook—where they learned others had faced similar issues.
Joshua Lucas told WAVE he dropped off five money orders at the same post office earlier this month to pay his rent, only to later find out his landlord never received them.
“It was cashed out to somebody else’s name,” Lucas said. “I’ve been using the post office for five years that I’ve lived here…never had an issue.”
New Albany’s police chief said the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office and Indiana State Police are handling the investigation. Spokespeople from Indiana State Police and the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed their involvement.
Residents like the Wilburns and Lucas say they are still waiting for answers about whether they will recover their money. “The money’s still out there,” Lucas said. “Somebody else is spending it.”
For now, they say they will avoid using that drop box and even the post office altogether. “I’m trying to figure out how to send the money to my landlord other than the mail now,” Lucas said. “Might have to meet him somewhere or something. Rent’s due next week….not using the blue box.”
WAVE also contacted USPS and is awaiting a response from the Inspector’s Office.
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