A Long Island woman says she took every precaution to prevent check washing. She got robbed anyway.

A Long Island woman says she took every precaution to avoid falling victim to check washing, but she still got robbed.

She called it "upsetting and disheartening."

Check washing victim loses $16,000

Carolyn Borella's family nursery prides itself on good works and supporting local community groups, and while she believes in the best of people, she was prepared for the worst.

She bought a security pen, which has specially formulated gel ink designed to guard against check washing, for the few checks she still has to write.

Borella sent $16,000 in checks to five payees, mailing them both inside and right in front of the post office, but the intended recipients never got them.

The security pen prevented the dollar amounts from being rewritten, but the thieves were able to change the name and cashed the checks by mobile deposit.

"I was sweating bullets when I saw that these checks were made out to somebody different than I actually made them out for," Borella said. "I was sick."

While she tries to recoup the losses from her bank, she's hearing from fellow check washing victims.

"You would think that you're safe enough when you go to the post office," she said. "You work your butt off ... and somebody walks away scot-free with all this money."

Suffolk County Police are investigating.

Is it safe to mail checks?

So should checks be avoided altogether?

Security expert Adam Schwam suggests using electronic checks issued by the bank or making sure you have a threshold with your bank.

"And besides having a threshold, you can say have it alert you every time you write a check," he said.

Meanwhile, many United States Postal Service facilities already have cameras, but there is no requirement that they do. USPS said it is not financially feasible to install them everywhere.