Calaveras County has fallen victim to a nation-wide ring of thieves that target business, stealing checks.
Authorities say there have been four such thefts in Calaveras County over the past three months. Detectives say Hispanic men ask the businesses for job applications and ask to use the bathroom before leaving, stealing blank checks from unattended desks. They then fill out the checks to fictitious names which they have IDs for and cash the checks for up to a thousand dollars each.
Police say the thefts are well thought out and well organized. Police urge businesses to keep their payroll and business checks, as well as old checks, in a locked safe.
Total loss so far throughout the nation is estimated at $7 million.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:55 pm