Toms River authorities are alerting the public that thieves have been trying to steal checks from highly visible and heavily used public mailboxes.

In a Thursday Facebook post, the Toms River Police Department says that they, along with Postal Inspectors, are investigating several instances of "mailbox fishing", where criminals try to retrieve letters from the signature blue USPS mailboxes, hoping to get checks that haven't made it to their destinations yet.

In the post, the TRPD specifically says that one of the busiest public mail drop-off locations in the Township, at the Water Street Post Office, is one of the locations that thieves have hit.

Here's the full post from the Toms River Police Department, including what you should do if you think that you may be a victim: