Napa County Check Washing Scam: $1M Stolen

0:00It's April 18, California news today starts now, AI powered and ready. Frosters are hitting Napa County hard with check washing scams on property tax payments. Thieves still checks from the mail, erase the ink, and rewrite them for huge amounts. Take Vineyard 29 in St. Helena. They mailed a $206,000 check that never reached the tax collector. Instead, it got cashed at a business in St. Cloud, Florida. Since we first covered this on Thursday, the problems exploded. Napa County Treasurer, Robert Minahan, says they lost 60 checks in just two days. A 10 times their usual rate. Total value stolen? Somewhere between $1 and $2 million, including another $225,000 winery check, washed and cashed down south. Victims are reeling. Jen Wilkinson from the Vineyard said her stomach dropped and her heart raised when she found out. She's not alone. Dozens of property owners mailed payments that vanished, and after our story aired, three more called in saying their checks bounced.

1:04Back as missing. Officials now think the thefts happen between Oakland's mail processing center and the tax office. Not just mailbox grabs. Postal inspectors are investigating nationwide patterns like this. So check your bank statements now. Pay taxes on mine if you can, and if something's off, hit up the Napa County Tax Collector's Office at Area Code. 707-253-4312. Stay sharp out there, folks. This mail game's getting risky.