U.S. Postal Inspection Service Offers Tips To Safeguard Your Mail And Packages

Birmingham, AL — Twenty-five years ago, mail theft from a blue collection box could have been a drug addict desperate to find cash. Today the motivation behind collection box mail theft is different. With the internet and social media connections, groups of criminals now liaison with one another across the country to coordinate strategic targeting of Post Office collection boxes.
The biggest variable enticing these criminals to steal are customers depositing mail into blue collection boxes after the last collection of the day or during Sundays and federal holidays. If customers simply used retail service or inside wall drop slots to send their U.S. Mail, instead of depositing it to sit outside overnight or through the weekend, blue collection boxes would not be as enticing after business hours to mail thieves for identity theft and check-washing schemes.
The U.S. Mail is still one of the safest and most trusted ways to send gifts and greetings to friends and loved ones and using the information below can help keep it that way.
The U.S. Postal Service offers up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for information that leads to the arrest and conviction for theft of U.S. Mail. This reward is applicable on those who stole U.S. Mail or are in possession of stolen U.S. Mail.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, America’s oldest federal law enforcement branch, gives the following tips to help prevent mail theft:

1. The most secure way to send U.S. Mail is through your local Post Office retail counter. If that is not feasible, the next safest way is to use the inside collection slots that deposit mail directly into the Post Office.
2. If using the Postal Service’s outside blue collection boxes, never deposit mail after the last dispatch time. Each box has dispatch times printed on a label, and it will point you to the location for the latest pickup time in your area. Avoid depositing mail during the night, Sundays, and federal holidays.
3. If you witness someone going into a collection box or mail delivery receptacle during non-postal work hours, contact your local police, and notify postal inspectors at 877-876-2455.
4. Sign up for Informed Delivery ™ so that you will be notified about mail that the USPS expects to deliver to your mail receptacle.
5. Do not allow your mail to sit overnight in mailboxes. If you are going out of town, submit a mail hold order to pause your delivery of U.S. Mail.
6. If you think you are a victim of mail theft, contact local law enforcement and the United States Postal Inspection Service. In addition to the Postal Service’s reward on mail thieves, robbery of an on-duty postal employee carries a reward of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). Tips can be made anonymously via 877-876-2455, or postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
   If customers do not report confirmed mail theft to postal inspectors, especially when financial losses occur, they are simply allowing criminals to take advantage of them. Even if the theft is not discovered until weeks after the incident, notifying federal law enforcement can still help bring these thieves to justice.
   The U.S. Postal Service delivers gift cards year-round and the peak season for mailing gift cards is soon approaching. Like any financial instrument, thieves target gift cards. Never leave mail out overnight and the most secure way to send mail is still at your local Post Office.
   If you believe your gift card was stolen from the mail, contact U.S. Postal Inspectors to report the theft (877-876-2455).
   However, gift cards can be missing for other reasons. High-speed automated machinery process envelopes through a tight and twisted maze of belts and rollers. Envelopes bending at turning points can quickly eject gift cards from their envelopes. An address on the gift card itself could help return it if the card fell out of the envelope during mail processing. Never sending the purchase receipt may allow for cancellation and replacement of the gift card.