7 On Your Side helps find long missing Treasury checks and how to protect your money

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mail theft is a federal crime, and across the Tri-State area, checks are a top target for thieves.

If you haven't received a tax refund, you may need to look into whether it's coming at all.

7 On Your Side deals with this issue all the time and found it's not just a problem for those nearby, but also across the country.

Unfortunately, the total loss for taxpayers are in the hundreds of millions.

A Howard Beach couple has been waiting on a reissue of their stolen 2023 tax refund and a big annuity check for over a year.

"It was supposed to be direct deposited into our account, May 24 of 2024," Smith said.

Further east on Long Island, Nancy Daley has been looking for her late father's refund check, who passed away in 2019.

"I'm not leaving the government with $7,300 like, that's his money," Daley said.

The IRS told her someone else got their hands on her dad's Treasury check.

"They tried to, the IRS told me somebody did, in fact, try and cash the check, and then it was denied," Daley said.

Both taxpayers are victims of missing IRS checks sent through the U.S. mail.

"So we went from it being mailed in May to filing the forms in July, then in November, the IRS assigns an agent, then they reassign another agent in December, it was going nowhere," Daley said.

As for Smith, she said the IRS said they sent checks.

"I said, who changed it to a check? They never answered," Smith said.

Practically every single day, 7 On Your Side gets a complaint from a viewer who had their tax return, social security or disability check stolen in the mail.

Data requested from the Department of the Treasury shows stolen checks are down this year compared to last, but according to the agency, the total number of checks in the U.S. that were reported stolen, lost, or damaged as of April 2025 was 73,424. That's roughly 21,000 per month.

So far in 2025, that's $3.5 million in Treasury checks that have been fraudulently cashed and or deposited.

The amount in checks that had to be reissued due to fraud over the last two years was $709,061,315.24 in 2024 and $227,002,556.19 so far in 2025.

"I just couldn't understand why they kept reissuing the checks that were fraudulently already cashed," Smith said.

Their missing returns were a drop in the federal bucket, but to them, worth every cent.

Daley got the $7,000 owed to her father and the Smiths got their $34,000.

"I'm amazed. I told him right away. I said, you're never going to believe it. But the money was direct deposited," Smith said.

The federal government is making moves to phase out paper checks.

In March, President Trump directed the Secretary of the Treasury to cease issuing federal disbursements in paper checks with the exception of those who don't have access to banking.

The executive order is set to take effect this fall.

Until then, you should opt for direct deposit.

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