W E D N E S D A Y
January 11, 2023 Vol. 43, No. 24
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JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Housing Forward opens winter emergency shelter Homes, Page 17
River Forest man loses $15K after checks altered
The Kidney Kid
By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
River Forest resident Michael Weldon-Linne is out over $15,000 after three checks of his were stolen from the mail. All three checks were deposited into unfamiliar accounts in amounts much higher than what he had written. “All three of these checks were very, very obviously altered,” Weldon-Linne said. He was able to view digital pictures of the checks through his bank accounts once they were deposited. It was there that Weldon-Linne saw that thief had whited out the recipient and amount on each check, writing new information on top. The thief made out the checks to three different parties and deposited them into, what Weldon-Linne called, “dummy accounts.” “It wasn’t a sophisticated act,” said Weldon-Linne, who has reported the thefts to the banks, the U.S. Postal Service and to the River Forest Police Department. The scam is known as “check washing,” so called because stolen checks are washed in chemicals to remove handwritten ink, allowing someone to change the payee name and the dollar amount. Scammers go through mail in search of checks. Stealing mail is a felony of-
Joseph Pascarella, 19, donated organ to a perfect stranger
STORY BY STACEY SHERIDAN, PAGE10 PHOTO BY SARA JANZ
See ALTERED CHECKS on page 15
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