OK, we’ve got a little confession. You want to know the real reason we don’t want to write about crime on this blog? It’s because our mom reads Wallyhood every day, and she worries about us! We write some little thing about car prowl and we’ve got fliers for The Club in our mailbox; someone gets their camera swiped from their counter and suddenly we’ve got deadbolt catalogs stacked on our kitchen table.
That said, we must stay vigilant. Michelle writes a warning on her Wandermom blog not leave checks in the outgoing mail:
I looked at the screen and felt the blood drain from my face and a ball of stress start to build in my stomach. What was that check for $795 that had just posted to my checking account? I knew I hadn’t written a check for that amount recently. I pulled up the check image and felt even more worried: I didn’t recognize the payee or the memo and although the signature looked like mine, there were obvious differences and the number 7 in the amount box was written in a style I’ve never used. What was going on? […]
Earlier in the week, I’d been rushing to work in the morning so I’d left the parking ticket payment in my mailbox with the handy-dandy flag raised to indicate to the mail carrier that there was a letter to be picked up. Well, it had been picked up alright, but not by the mail carrier.
Check swipers and wipers can change wipe names and amounts of the check you’ve signed and write in new amounts. Keep an eye out.
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I caught someone going through my mailbox once a few years back. They ran and threw all the mail they had stolen when they were confronted. People steal both incoming and outgoing mail.
That’s part of why the post office is struggling – most people (including me) don’t trust mailing checks anymore and pay online.
I’ve always assumed that everyone knew living in the city meant that leaving outgoing mail in your mailbox was a Bad Idea(tm). Either get a locking mailbox or just use one of the probably too many Post Offices Seattle has.
I’m also amazed by the number of people in my apartment building that leave their Netflix movie returns on the shelf above our mailboxes for the postman. That also seems like a bad idea. You put your outgoing mail in your (locked) mailbox and you put a post-it on the outside that says “outgoing mail in box.” When you don’t need it you can even stick the post-in on the inside of the door so it’s always there.
2 yrs ago we got a check stolen with the outgoing mail. A guy acid washed the check and put his own name on it. The bank where he was cashing it could tell and they called me while he was sitting there to see if I wrote the check. After his plan was foiled he walked out of the branch briskly to get away, but they had his information so I imagine he got arrested for it later on.
We don’t put checks in the mailbox anymore, but we have never worried about netflix.
I’m not a big fan of leaving outgoing mail in my mailbox. Is it ironic that it’s a red flag? :-/
If you have a game console, Netflix now has a free disk to stream movies. I have a Nintendo Wii and using the disk allows me to access the Netflix site to watch movies and shows instantly on my TV. Not everything is available for instant access just yet, but they’re getting there.
The reason they steal incoming mail is for identity theft. They’ll target the same house over and over until they have enough of your information so that they can apply for a low limit credit card in your name. I lived in a house share with a ‘recovered’ meth / horse addict. When we finally managed to evict her with the help of the cops she had garbage bags full of mail in her closet along with other bags filled with bloody needles and cotton swabs. I now live alone.
Just a reminder that identity and credit card theft also happens online, or in the road, sometimes by the hundreds of thousands at a time. (Remember the Truck?)
I suggest writing checks with a pen that cannot be washed off.
It offers peace of mind.
The Uni-Ball 207 is a pen that is very difficult to wash. However, the best advice is to never send sensitive mail via your curbside mailbox. Pay online when possible and if necessary use a blue USPS box.
SUPER IMPORTANT TO USE A HIGH SECURITY LOCKING MAILBOX like the Mail Boss because most can be fished or pried open. Flash is right… identity theft is what they’re after when they steal incoming mail. It’s the fastest growing crime in the country (thanks to soaring methamphetamine abuse problems) and vigilance is key. So lock up your mailbox! Or else all that shredding your doing (what do you shred btw? your mail!) is futile…
FYI: A friend of mine who lives on just off Fremont Ave (a bit outside our boundaries, I know, but close enough to seem applicable) just got a call from his bank that someone was trying to cash a check on his account. I don’t know what tipped the teller off, but she was wise enough not to cash the check and called my buddy for verification. The guy took the check and ran, and my buddy got a call 45 minutes later from another branch where the guy was trying to cash it again.
Let me echo the comments above: Someone appears to be targeting the neighborhood, so now seems like a good time to only mail checks from locked mail receptacles.