St. Petersburg, Florida - Your mailbox is supposed to be a safe place, but not for a Pinellas County woman. She's out hundreds of dollars after a crook ripped her off, and it happened right at her own front door.
Patricia Ferguson struggles to make ends meet, so paying a $300 dollar gas bill is no easy task.
Last October, Patricia put a $312 money order in the mail to FerrellGas, but someone stole it out of her mailbox and successfully cashed it.
"As long as I've lived here, nothing ever happened like this," Patricia told us.
She showed us a copy of the cashed money order, and the crook clearly altered the money order from "Ferrellgas" to "Thomas Downs." The criminal also attempted to change the account number written on the check to a telephone number.
Despite blatant signs of fraud, Ace Cash Express on East Bay Drive in Largo accepted the money order and cashed it in full. When Patricia questioned Ace about it, "She says, 'I don't see nothing wrong with this.'" Patricia told us she responded, "Would you look at that and tell me you don't see nothing wrong with it?"
Ace Cash Express told 10 News in a statement they are "investigating the matter."
Largo Police have also launched a criminal investigation.
However, after 10 News made several phone calls - Patricia will get her money back. "Oh, thank you," she told us with tears in her eyes. "I just lost my brother..." Patricia said, struggling for words.
She also warned others of trusting that checks or money orders will be safe outside your own home. "I'll never put any money orders in my mailbox," Patricia says. "I'll take it to the [post office]."
Largo Police say they have leads on the person responsible. If arrested, the crook will face fraud charges along with federal charges for stealing from a mailbox.