(WFRV) – The Door County Sheriff’s Office is issuing a warning to the public to be cautious of their personal checks as several incidents have arisen involving the ‘washing’ of checks.

In a recent social media post, The Door County Sheriff’s Office says it has now responded to several calls about personal checks being ‘washed’ and then forged.

According to officials, suspects have been taking personal checks from mailboxes and then ‘washing’ them, or putting them through a process to remove the ink from the check.

Once the ink is removed, the suspect can then put their own name on the check and cash it in.

Authorities warn that anyone writing personal checks should do so using gel ink pens as they are reportedly harder to remove from the checks.

Officials also say you can avoid the risk of fraud by simply bringing any mail with personal checks directly to the post office and not using private mailboxes or the blue USPS boxes.