Dear John: I am a dentist in Brooklyn who is a victim of ‘fishing.” 

At the end of a working day, one of my staff members drops the mail (consisting of insurance claims and written checks to pay vendors and suppliers) into a local mailbox. Three checks were “fished” out of the mailbox with a mousetrap contraption. 

And the checks the person pulled out were altered and cashed on a phone app.  

One check was written to Optimum for a cable bill for $136.22. It was altered to pay a “Jada Gill,” rather than Optimum, $11,000.22.  

It was deposited via a phone app to Bank of America and was paid by my bank, Chase.  

I immediately reported it to Chase, which told me I would have to wait at least 90 days for it to review the situation and make a decision about returning my money. I sent Chase a copy of the obviously altered check. 

Chase agreed it was altered, but I would still have to wait for my money. About one week after I reported it to Chase, a policeman called me and said they made a random traffic stop and the person in the car had about 80 altered checks, two of which were mine. 

Along with the checks was the mousetrap contraption.  

I gave the person’s name and copies of the other two checks (which were altered, but luckily never cashed) to Chase hoping to expedite getting my $11,000.22 back, but am getting stonewalled.  

Can you please help me retrieve my own money, which never should have been paid from my account in the first place?  

I have attached copies of the two checks that were in the car with the thief that were not cashed, but you can clearly see the alterations. The check cashed for $11,000.22 was the same poor quality. S.A. 

Dear S.A.: Good news!

It took months, but I contacted both banks on your behalf, and you now have your money back.

As it turns out, Bank of America says the $11,000.22 check was never cashed either. Someone at the bank became suspicious and refused to pay “Jada Gill.”

The holdup was the banks arguing about who had the money. I don’t know which bank eventually owned up to it, but after a little arm twisting, one of them found the dough.

You probably already know the hard way that this sort of theft has become commonplace. The post office was even forced to change the design of its mailboxes to prevent “fishing.” But apparently the changes weren’t effective or your mailbox wasn’t one that was changed.

Anyway, glad I could help you get your money back.

It’s fun to speculate about the mind of a thief. He probably figured that a straight $11,000 would have looked curious, so he added the 22 cents.