Months after discovering their savings had quietly vanished, a Foxboro couple has finally been reimbursed roughly $39,040 by Santander Bank, money that thieves drained through eight fraudulent checks. The bank initially refused to cover the loss, arguing the couple blew a 30-day deadline to contest their statement. After NBC10 Boston's consumer-investigation team laid out its findings, Santander reversed course, and Foxboro police have now assigned a detective to dig into the case.
How Reporters Traced the Checks
According to NBC10 Boston, bank records show eight checks, each written for $4,880, were withdrawn from Mark Henderson's account and cashed at banks in Hawaii, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Virginia. The checks, dated August and September 2025, carried the same printed name and a Virginia address. Reporters say they tracked down a woman with that name who was convicted in a 2020 bank fraud case in Virginia and noted that signatures on court documents looked strikingly similar to those on the suspect checks.
NBC's reporting also says Santander issued a partial credit of $9,700 in November, then finally returned the full $39,040 after Channel 10 shared its reporting with the bank. "How can you cash a check that doesn't have my name or signature on it? Not once, but eight times?" Henderson told the station.
Bank Policy At Issue
According to the Santander Bank personal deposit account agreement, customers must alert the bank to unauthorized items "not later than thirty (30) days" after a statement becomes available. That clause forms the basis of the bank's 30-day notice rule and is what Santander cited when it initially declined to reimburse the Hendersons in full.
Why This Matters
The case is one example in a national surge in check fraud and mail-theft schemes. In a recent analysis, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reported that thousands of suspicious activity reports tied to mail-theft-related check fraud, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious activity, were filed in the months following its 2023 alert, highlighting how quickly forged checks can move across state lines and drain accounts.
Legal Notes And What Victims Can Do
According to NBC10 Boston, Henderson reported the suspicious withdrawals to Foxboro police, who assigned a detective after the station shared its findings.
Consumer advocates advise that victims preserve bank statements and copies of any forged items, file a report with local police, then escalate the fraud to federal authorities. That includes the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at uspis.gov/report if mail theft might be involved.
