I'm so glad these Mailbox Thieves were BUSTED!

[applecruncher]

This has been a problem for over a year. (I live in one on the suburbs mentioned.) Several of the culprits were postal employees!!

I don't mail many things, but when I did I tried to go inside the post office lobby.

"Federal postal agents allege that for almost a year, the group was helping themselves to checks and money orders placed in blue collection boxes outside Columbus area post offices, US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman said.

A criminal complaint said at times, the group even used official post office property to open the big blue mail boxes.

The indictment said checks and money orders would be deposited into bank accounts belonging to members of the theft ring, who would then withdraw it at ATMS, in a scheme called "cracking cards."

Investigators said no place was spared, and that Columbus, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Worthington and Reynoldsburg post offices were among those targeted."


(more and video)
http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/mail-theft-ring-that-included-postal-workers-busted

 

[SeaBreeze]

That's disturbing that postal workers were in on it, can't trust anybody these days! I always mail my bills inside the post office, years back I'd just put them in my mailbox in front of my house with the flag up, but heard too many stories of thieves all over in the news, so now I'm more careful. If we go out of town, we put the mail on hold and pick it up when we return.

Even though I don't prefer to use those big blue mail boxes, I always assumed they were pretty safe. I just used to think of a worker emptying it on a windy day and misplacing or losing an important bill payment, etc.

 

[Kadee]

We have allot of mail in particular, just not reaching the mailboxes of homes ...Relating to touchy subject .....( it’s a mail voting system the ask if you are in favour of same sex marriage being approved in Australia ) so all sorts of rumours are being circulated ..are they just being binned by the mail delivery person ..or are people stealing the letters and putting in extra votes for their preference ..who knows where the unaddressed mail has vanished to ..they were being sent out to all everyone over 18 years of age who have their name on the electrol roll

We received ours and voted on our preference ...but many of our family members who live in the city didn’t ever receive them to vote

 

[tnthomas]

This area is rural and has mail delivered to a "cluster box" about a mile away, near the highway, looks like these:



These are fairly secure, the postal worker accesses each individual box from the front with a master key.


With the old cluster box sets they used to have, the whole backside of the unit opened up, it made mail delivery faster.

The crooks could rip the back panel off, gaining access to all the boxes at once!

 

[Butterfly]

In the complex where my sister lives, thieves just came in with a crowbar or something similar and opened up the boxes. This happened twice. Nothing is secure any more it seems.

 

[Trade]

I pay almost all my bills over the internet. Which eliminates one threat and replaces it with another one.

 

[Marie5656]

About 25 years ago, or so, I was still living in an apartment complex with the cluster boxes. One day I went over to get my mail as the carrier was filling the box. He looked at me and said he thought I had move, as he had gotten a change of address notice for me. I went right to the Post Office and checked. Turns out someone had turned in a change of address to have my mail go some where near NYC. Luckily it was caught soon enough that I do not think I lost anything important. Postal inspector was never able to determine who did it.

 

[applecruncher]

@ Marie5656

Wow, that's scarey. Sounds like something an ex gf/bf or a stalker would do.

 

[jujube]

The last time I did a "permanent" change of address 7 1/2 years ago, I had to give a charge card number and a $1 charge was put on my account. It was explained that this was a tracking exercise to make sure who did the change of address (or, more likely, it was another way for the PO to make some money off me). I think that was discontinued shortly as there were probably too many complaints.

 

[Marie5656]

@ Marie5656

Wow, that's scarey. Sounds like something an ex gf/bf or a stalker would do.

Never got a clue of who did it. I did not know anyone in that area, and I checked with places that had my address, to no avail. This was pre-internet so I was really stumped. Could not understand why a photo ID was not required.

 

[Camper6]

The government here in Canada is moving to direct deposit into your bank account for government checks. Soon there will be no mail delivery.

 

[tortiecat]

I have been receiving my government cheques by direct deposit for over 20 years!

 

[Manatee]

25 years ago we lived in a townhouse condo in a beach town. The steel pedestal supporting the cluster box rusted through from the salt air and the box fell over.

 

[DaveA]

I have been receiving my government cheques by direct deposit for over 20 years!

Same here. SS and pension is on a direct deposit to the bank. But aside from that I've never had a problem with anything I've mailed and or received in the 50-some years that I've lived here (can't speak for the other 20-some years when I was a kid ). I regularly put out checks for payments in the open box on the front porch and the mailman nor anyone else has ever stolen anything. Never had home invasions in the neighborhood either so my wife and I don't have to spend the day (and night) armed to the teeth. LOL

 

[dpwspringer]

I pay almost all my bills over the internet. Which eliminates one threat and replaces it with another one.

Ain't that the truth! I have considered (but haven't done so) getting a second, low-end lap top computer just for connecting to my financial accounts and nothing else (not browsing etc), and connecting it up without going through WIFI. What I do now is close out my browser after visiting my financial accounts and then open it back up to visit sites such as this in hopes that the user names and passwords are not as easily poached after the browser was closed and reopened.