USPS Warns Mail Theft Is Rising—5 Ways to Protect Yourself
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Mail theft is a growing concern. The U.S. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reports that letter carrier robberies increased by 845 percent between 2019 and 2023. And each year, Postal Inspectors recover more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders. To combat the issue, the United States Postal Service (USPS) installed “safe” mailboxes and high-security blue collection boxes in 2023.
Unfortunately, the problem persists. In fact, U.S. Representative Ami Bera of Sacramento County has called for a federal task force to address mail theft. Last week, he penned a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale , “to address the ongoing, rampant, and unrelenting theft of mail and postal keys, as well as the widespread vandalism and destruction of cluster mailboxes (CBUs) impacting communities across the Sacramento region.”
But this isn’t limited to California. Last month, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) launched an investigation into a series of mail thefts in the Baltimore region. Just yesterday, three people were arrested in Austin, Texas, after stealing mail from 37 different addresses. And these are far from the only instances.
While elected officials and the USPS work to sort the dangerous problem out, there are some simple things you can do to protect your mail, and in turn, your identity and finances.
RELATED: USPS Is Hiking Mail Prices This Fall—Here’s What It’ll Cost You .
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Mail thieves are often after checks, and their method for stealing them is called “washing.”
“Check washing scams involve changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them. Occasionally, these checks are stolen from mailboxes and washed in chemicals to remove the ink. Some scammers will even use copiers or scanners to print fake copies of a check,” explains the USPIS .
But believe it or not, using a gel pen instead of a ballpoint pen could help safeguard any checks you’re mailing.
Ryan Moody , senior vice president of payments product management at Vericast, told Federal News Network that the chemicals used to “wash” a check can’t lift the gel ink that’s already been absorbed into the paper, making it “very easy to see that the check has been modified.”
Oil-based ink, on the other hand, can be washed off the surface of a check.
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Mail thieves tend to work at night when there’s less chance of them getting caught. Therefore, ensuring that your letters aren’t sitting in the mailbox overnight can greatly reduce your risk of becoming a victim.
“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,” USPS said in a previous press release, as Best Life reported at the time .
“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,” they added.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
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The same logic applies to your personal mailbox. If you have outgoing mail, don’t leave it sitting in your mailbox until a mail carrier comes. Instead, either hand the letter to them directly or bring it to your local post office.
If you’re going to be out of town, you can arrange for the post office to hold your mail, or ask a neighbor to collect your mail daily.
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According to the USPS, “ Informed Delivery is a free service from USPS that shows you preview images of incoming mail, as well as status updates about your incoming and outbound packages.”
Unfortunately, scammers have figured out ways to use the service to their benefit. According to Tennessee’s Local 3 News , bad actors sign unsuspecting people up for Informed Delivery and then use the previews to track and intercept any valuable mail.
That said, the service is still a good line of defense against mail theft. Local 3 News recommends signing up for an account, where you’ll have to verify your identity. If you notice any suspicious activity or missing mail, contact USPS immediately.
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If mail theft is a concern in your neighborhood, consider installing a doorbell camera like the Ring. This can help identify any potential thieves. Sometimes, just the presence of the camera on your house is enough to deter them.
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.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
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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.”
RELATED: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Resigns—What It Means for the USPS and Your Mail .
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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.
