 |
For what it is worth when I called USPS to
report the theft they said their policy was to "discourage people from
posting mail in their own mailboxes owing to nationwide mail theft" -
Edward
|
 | Thanks for the info. I never put any outgoing mail in my own box anymore,
even without a check. - Susan
|
 | I had a similar situation occur to me 3-4 months ago in my house (on
Carmain) - Lee
|
 | The same thing happened on Stephens Mill Run that same night. One person
lost an outgoing check in the process. Everyone's mailbox was left open. The
bank told the victim this happens about once per month (or week?) in this
zipcode. The thief "washes"(?) the check and in some way uses it
to quickly clean out the account. - Bill
|
 | I remember at one neighborhood meeting, the police said if you DO put
outgoing mail in your mailbox (which I never do), DO
NOT RAISE THE FLAG .... the postman will stop anyway, to deliver
mail, and people should not "advertise" that things are in their
mailbox. - Jackie
|
 | I dont mean to be a pain, but you might recommend that people take mail
only to a post office, not just a box. There have been instances in which id
thefts have gotten mail out of exterior USPS boxes by reaching in with
tools, etc. - Karin
|
 | Our mail with checks enclosed was stolen on Sunday night. We realized it
immediately on Monday morning and had to stop payment on the check, cancel
the credit card, and order new checks. The Wachovia bank people said it has
been happening at least once a week in the 30342 ZIP
code. The thieves try to "wash" the check and use
it...Anyway, it is the last time we will put outgoing mail with checks in
the box...
|
 | There was also a car broken into on our street last night, Haven Oaks
Court. They stole a purse, video equipment, gameboys, etc. I am forwarding
this to our neighbors. - jfw
|
 | FYI, I had incoming mail stolen out of my mailbox last year. To avoid the
increasing problem of stolen mail/identity theft issues, I opened a post
office box and directed all mail to that address. You might want to include
in your future alerts the option of opening a P.O. box. Although there is a
cost associated with that, it's much cheaper than having your identity
"stolen" or your bank account wiped out. - Lindy
|
 | People should also be careful about leaving incoming mail in their mailboxes too long. A couple of years ago (just after we moved to N. Stratford), we had a new box of checks stolen out of our mailbox (well, either our mailbox or at the check printing company) and didn't realize it until the bank notified us that someone was going to our bank's branches around town and cashing checks for just under $700 each time. (Usually signature cards aren't checked until a check is for at least $700.) It was a huge pain to rectify, needless to say.
- Jennifer
|
 | We had the same experience over a year ago, and now we lock our mailbox.
We post no outgoing mail in it, so the postman locks it when he places the
incoming mail in it, and we keep the key to it. - Carole |