Greg's Corner

Why is mail being stolen from your mailbox?

By Greg Collier

Depending on where you live, mail theft might be a common occurrence in your neighborhood. While it may not have happened to you, it may have happened to your neighbors. If you belong to a neighborhood group online, you may have seen some complaints of mail theft.

But why would someone want to steal your mail? Identity theft is a big reason. If you get a lot of credit card offers, an identity theft may fill out the application in your name. Stealing gifts is another reason. For example, if you’ve recently had someone in your home graduate from high school, and had graduation decorations in front of your home, mail thieves may be watching your mailbox for cash gifts being sent through the mail.

However, what we’re discussing today is outgoing mail. If you leave your outgoing mail in your home’s mailbox for the Postal Service to pick up, you may want to start a new routine. A report out of one Florida city is stating that residents are having their mail stolen for a scam known as mail washing or check washing. This is when mail thieves look for the flag on your mailbox being left upright, indicating that there is mail that needs to picked up.

The thieves are hoping to find any kind of payment that’s made by check. They’ll take the checks and dip them in a chemical solution that removes the ink from the check. This allows the thieves to write the check to anybody they want for any amount.

In the Florida town, residents were struck seven times since March and have lost a total of $85,000. One victim lost a total of $14,000 from one check. That victim reported that his security camera caught the thieves taking his mail around 1 or 2 am.

There are ways to protect yourself from the check washing scam, though. There are special pens you can use that are designed to resist check washing. You may want to also consider switching to electronic payments rather than manual ones. Lastly, if you absolutely have to mail a physical check to someone, it’s best if you take it directly to your local post office and drop off the check inside.