The Easton Police Department, and others around the state, have seen an increase in check washing crime. The process of erasing the details from an already completed check allows them to be rewritten.  In most instances, Easton Police say checks that have been put in mailboxes -- and are awaiting pickup by a postal employee-- are stolen. The suspect then alters the check by changing the payee and the amount and then cashes or deposits it at a bank.  The checks that end up being “washed” have been stolen from both residential and United States Postal Service mailboxes within Easton and the State.  The easiest way to combat this is to avoid placing checks directly in the mailboxes.  Instead, Easton Police say it would likely be safer to either complete the transaction electronically or by mailing the check from inside the post office.