USPS Says You Shouldn’t Put a Lost Wallet in the Mailbox—Here’s Why
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There’s no feeling of dread quite like realizing you’ve lost your wallet. Aside from the cash you may never see again, you also keep your driver’s license and credit cards in there—and those can be a pain to get replaced. You may hope that your belongings are found by a Good Samaritan who tries returning it through the postal system , but as it turns out, that may not be your best bet. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) actually advises against this common practice. Read on to find out why.
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If you’ve ever come across a lost wallet yourself, you might have dropped it in a USPS mailbox to get it back to its rightful owner. After all, people have been pushing this idea for years.
“If you find a lost wallet in the U.S., you can drop it in a USPS mailbox and they will return it to its owner free of charge,” one Reddit user wrote in a 2018 post in the subreddit r/LifeProTips.
Another user commented on the thread, adding that this had worked for them when they lost their wallet. “Someone must have thrown it in the mailbox. The USPS put it in an envelope marked it as ‘found in mailbox’ and I got it back in a couple weeks,” they wrote.
This even proved successful for New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ top aide earlier this year.
“I lost my wallet while hiking but a couple days later someone found it. And returned it via mail. With all the money. And left a great note! People are pretty good sometimes,” Maxwell Young , Adams’ Communications Director, posted to X on Jan. 19.
In the note, the person who returned Young’s lost wallet wrote that they were “dropping it USPS and [hoping] it’s delivered to you safely.”
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“We do not encourage customers to put lost items, including wallets, in collection boxes,” a USPS spokesperson told the news outlet.
Best Life reached out to the USPS for more information, and we will update this story with their response.
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Even though the USPS doesn’t recommend it, postal workers will try their best to return a lost wallet if it it is dropped in the mail, WUSA9 reported. But it may not be free the way some people claim. As the USPS explains on its website , a wallet found in a collection box or mailbox is considered to be “nonmail matter,” which is a type of dead mail.
“Dead mail is matter deposited in the mail that is undeliverable and cannot be returned to the sender,” the agency states. “A reasonable effort is made to match articles found loose in the mail with the envelope or wrapper and to return or forward the articles.”
According to the Postal Service, nonmail matter like a lost wallet will be “returned postage due at the single-piece First-Class Mail or Priority Mail price for keys and identification devices that is applicable based on the weight of the matter.”
In other words, if your wallet pops back up in the mail, it may come with a notice that you owe a fee to the USPS.
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In order to avoid any trouble, the USPS told WUSA9 that people should find another way to return found belongings instead of sticking them in a mailbox.
“If someone finds a wallet the best option is to turn it in to the local police,” a company spokesperson advised. “The finder could also turn it in to a lost and found receptacle (if available) or look for an ID and contact the owner.”
This might also help prevent any potential consequences on your end. A man from New York was arrested in 2019 after dropping off a lost wallet at a post office in Los Angeles, NBC Miami reported. The man said he found the wallet while leaving the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, but he was stopped days after returning it by the police and charged with petit theft.
While the charges were eventually dropped, police indicated that the wallet should have been returned to them.
“Money or property found at a Seminole Casino or on a Seminole Tribe Reservation should be turned over to uniformed security guards or officers,” they said in a statement to NBC Miami.
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
