Neither rain nor sleet nor mail thieves

05/30/2003

By LISA MARTIN / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

A small Dallas company wants to change the way you and the rest of the country get mail.

Although 1,900 postal inspectors are dispatched nationwide to protect the nation's mail and 5,858 arrests for mail theft were made in fiscal 2002, according to postal inspector Molly McMinn, crimes involving mailboxes are rising.

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Signed, sealed, delivered, locked

Entrepreneur's mailboxes don't leave letters open to ID theft

11:14 AM CST on Saturday, January 10, 2004

By CHERYL HALL / The Dallas Morning News

Bobbie Cox thinks your New Year's resolutions should include securing your mailbox. After all, she contends, your financial health is as important as shoring up your physique.

"If you leave home with your mail unlocked, it's like leaving your wallet and credit cards with a sign saying, 'Come use these while I'm gone,' " says the 48-year-old owner and chief executive of Postal Vault Corp. of Dallas. "Why not start out the year by giving yourself peace of mind?"

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You've Got [Stolen] Mail

Is Your Mailbox a Lure for Identity Theft?
By Greg Hunter

Feb. 17 — Your mailbox may be the key to your personal fortune, and thieves know it. The Federal Trade Commission estimates 400,000 Americans have had their mail — and their identities — stolen.


"I called the post office and they said that there was mail that was delivered to my home on that Friday," said Barbara, a mail theft victim who wanted her full name withheld. "So, I contacted the police and made a report." Barbara then took her inquiry a step further, and decided to do some investigating of her own. She took out her handheld video camera and stationed herself in a window of her home to try to catch the thief stealing her mail on tape.

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Mail theft still a problem in U.S.

By Lauren LaFleur - Progress News Writer

Security is an issue some people don't give a second thought to. Locking doors and windows of homes and businesses have become second-nature in modern times when not too long ago many never "locked-up" at night.

However, even if the doors and windows are locked, would-be thieves can still find a way to steal valuable information from the average American.

"The mailbox has really become a target," said Chuck Hosier of Postal Vault, a company specializing in postal security. "People will drive up to your mailbox, look through it, pull out what they want, leave the junk and drive off."

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Woman Arrested in Check Scam

"Newnan police say 34-year-old Teresa Lyne Smith stole identities and passed bogus checks for 15 months. The check-writing total is estimated at more than $200,000."

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The Theif is in the Mail

"Identity theft is not just an online crime. Last year, the USPIS made 5,858 mail theft arrests."

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Hollywood Inspires Identity Theft

"Convicted I.D. Thief told investigators he learned his craft by watching the film Catch Me If You Can."

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Cops nab mail theft suspects

McGee said the investigation involved "a large amount of mail from several residences."

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The meth connection to identity theft

"Drug addiction plays a part in many crime rings," cops say.
By Bob Sullivan, Technology Correspondent, MSNBC

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Stolen mail a growing source of identity theft

Third in a series on the growing menace of identity theft for business and consumers.

Upper Las Flores Mesa Drive couple was the victim of mail theft late last month. Local officials have encouraged residents to purchase locked mailboxes.

Sheriff's Department officials say it remains vital that residents continue to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from becoming a victim of postal crime.

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