LBPD Warns Residents About Increase in Mail Theft Incidents
2010-08-18 · By Editor
Photo by Steve Johnson
The Long Beach Police Department is warning residents regarding a rash of mail theft incidents, which have occurred throughout the city. Residents are being urged to take precautions and not place, leave or expose outgoing mail hanging from residential mailboxes.
Recently, fraud investigators have experienced a surge of mail theft reports where individuals are stealing mail that contains payments earmarked for creditors such as mortgage lenders, credit card companies, financial institutions and retail businesses.
In an effort to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud and/or mail and identity theft, residents are encouraged to practice the following recommendations:
- Do not write account, driver’s license or social security numbers on your checks
- If possible, satisfy payments on-line or at your creditor’s website
- Place or deposit outgoing mail in a mail slot located inside a postal facility or hand it to your neighborhood postal carrier
- When ordering checks from your financial institution, request the secure type that cannot be altered
- Do not send cash in the mail
- Retrieve mail from your mailbox promptly after delivery
If you discover that you have become a victim of mail fraud, here is what you should do:
- Report the incident to Long Beach Police Department
- File a complaint with the United States Postal Inspection Service
For more information concerning mail theft and what you can do to prevent it, please visit the United States Postal Inspection Service website.
If you should have any questions regarding mail theft or fraud-related crimes, please call the Long Beach Police Department’s Forgery/Fraud Detail at (562) 570-7330.
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Good advice, for the most part. But “Retrieve your mail promptly”? Seriously? Many mail thieves are so brazen that they follow the postal trucks. With ID theft at an all time high, people need to be vigilant. You shred sensitive documents before discarding them, so why leave them in your mailbox for thieves to steal?
Your unlocked mailbox is one of the easiest ways for thieves to steal your personal information for identity theft. They can find bank account numbers, credit card statements, courtesy checks, social security statements and more all in your mailbox. To prevent mail identity theft, use a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss that cannot be fished by hand or easily pried open with a screwdriver. The Mail Boss is available at your local Ace Hardware or True Value.