December 4

Beware mail theft this holiday season

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13  comments

Mail theft appears to be ramping up with the holiday season, Michelle reports over the weekend.

“On my block this morning, I recovered a large pile of dumped mail that appeared to be stolen,” she wrote Sunday afternoon.

A Seattle police officer came by to collect the mail from me and was going to specifically return a couple of the more personal letters/photos to some houses. In general, letters with handwritten envelopes were all torn open, along with what may have been new credit/debit cards from a bank envelope and Netflix envelopes (DVDs missing).

Michelle lives in the 500 block of Northeast 104th Street, and said the mail had addresses that included Northeast 104th, 102nd and 97th streets.

About the author 

Sara W

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  1. An Amazon package was stolen from the front porch last week on 20th Ave NE at 88th St. I called Amazon to see if they could put a permanent note on my account to leave packages at the rear door and was told I’d need to call the carrier with each shipment to notify them directly.

  2. We had a sixteen unit Cluster Box Unit installed, it has a secure outgoing mail slot and two secure package delivery doors. I was surprised at how the neighborhood came together on this, I guess all of us have had something ripped off. It cost about $115 for each of us, including the concrete pad, labor and the CBU. He also removed all the old boxes. The neighborhood looks neater. Highly recommend it. We used david@themailboxguy.com.

  3. Mail thefts are rampant this time of year as thieves are on the prowl for holiday gift cards, etc. but also are a problem year round for identity theft: http://www.mailboss.com/blog/don%E2%80%99t-let-the-grinch-steal-christmas-protect-against-holiday-mail-theft/

    People here are right – locking mailboxes are the solution. Oasis Jr is not a high security mailbox though, it can be easily pried and fished: http://www.mailboss.com/blog/other-locking-mailboxes-the-oasis/

    Maple Leaf Ace Hardware carries the Mail Boss for about $159 which is the most secure locked mailbox you can buy under $200. It can’t be easily pried and weighs 40 lbs so it’s built like a tank.

  4. Follow-up with delivery thing. A friends husband is a mail carrier and they have check in points and are really expected to be on a schedule much like a bus driver. Thing is you would never know it. Also good tip about where to get a secure mailbox, thanks!

  5. I helped get all of our neighbors into locking boxes last year. We all purchased the Oasis Jr. box. Although they are bigger, they are secure. The smaller ones that are the size of typical mailboxes tend to have a hole in them that allows someone to still get their hand it and take the mail inside. According to the Home Depot lady, those are more for securing packages than your paper mail. Oasis Jr. runs about $97 at Home Depot

  6. Sue wrote: “It would help if the mail was delivered at approximately the same time every day”
    That would be possible if the volume of mail was the same every day.

  7. It would help if the mail was delivered at approximately the same time every day, then we could watch for it. Mine is anywhere from 11am to 4pm. Also, neighbor bought a locking box and they still got robbed. Anyone have a favorite brand?

  8. It is likely some of that mail is mine. The same thing happened last year, and a kind neighbor down by the creek brought the remains to us. He said around the holidays the mail is regularly dumped down by the bridge over the creek. We missed wedding RSVPs as a result of this holiday grinch. Now we have to spend a bunch of money on a locking mailbox.

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