WESTPORT — The crime of “check washing” — checks stolen, then rewritten and cashed with fraudulent details — is on the rise again in Westport, police warn.

The crime occurs when a check is stolen and details such as the payee’s name or payment amount are erased — or “washed” — and replaced with fraudulent information. The check then is either cashed or deposited in a bank account controlled by the thief.

Checks targeted for the crime are most frequently stolen from either residential mailboxes or U.S. Postal Service mailboxes in town, police said.

Police alerted the community about the scheme in February, and on Monday reiterated that warning, citing another “uptick.”

Since the warning earlier this year, Westport police have reported several check-washing incidents and arrests.

Read about some of those reports by clicking here, here and here.

To combat check-washing thefts, police recommend that people avoid mailing checks by leaving them in mailboxes, and either make transactions electronically or mail checks directly from a Post Office.

Acknowledging that adhering to that advice may be “inconvenient,” it “should reduce the occurrences of this type of crime in town,” police said in this week’s statement.