Expecting a federal stimulus check? Beat the crooks to your mailbox

As federal stimulus checks and unemployment benefit debit cards arrive in residential mailboxes, U.S. postal authorities are urging customers to take steps to thwart potential thieves.

Thefts from mailboxes tend to increase during the Christmas season and the spring tax season, although authorities have noticed a decline in the theft of tax-refund checks in the past couple of years because more people are having their refunds directly deposited, said Ricky Vida, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in San Diego.

But now the arrival of federal and state financial support related to the novel coronavirus pandemic has the Postal Service on alert.

“Knowing that there are items of value in the mail and it’s being publicized, it raises our awareness of the situation,” Vida said.

Vida’s No. 1 tip? Empty mailboxes every day, as soon as possible after deliveries. Most thefts happen overnight, he said.

Murrieta resident Steve Salcedo uses a locked metal 16-address community mailbox. After dark on Wednesday, May 6, someone pried open the back and stole all the mail. Similar thefts happened nearby recently, Salcedo’s neighbors said.

Murrieta police say they don’t know why — the crooks aren’t fessing up — but thefts from mailboxes have recently increased in the city over the same period last year, Sgt. Jeremy Durrant said.

From March 19 through May 8 this year, there were 36 calls to dispatch about mail theft resulting in 16 crime reports written, Durrant said. In 2019 during that same period, there were 21 calls and five written crime reports.

Salcedo has no doubt about the reason behind the increase.

“They were going for stimulus checks; what else could it be?” he said.

Salcedo said his family uses the Postal Service’s Informed Delivery to track important incoming mail and immediately remove it from their mailbox. And Salcedo drops his outgoing mail directly at the post office rather than using his outgoing-mail slot.

“I’ve been accustomed to doing that my entire life,” said Salcedo, 49.

Recipients of stimulus checks can arrange on the IRS website for direct deposit to a bank account. Unemployment benefits may also be directly deposited. Durrant encouraged customers to pay bills and receive payments online when possible and to retrieve mail promptly to discourage thefts.

“Most of them happened during the darkness,” Durrant said.

The Postal Service offered these additional tips:

• Deposit mail in the Postal Service’s blue boxes just before the time of the last pickup, which is noted on the box. Because thieves fish mail from those boxes using a sticky substance on the end of sticks, officials urge depositing the mail in the post office for additional security.

• If mail you are expecting is overdue, contact the sender as soon as possible.

• Don’t send cash through the mail.

• If you can’t be home to accept delivery, arrange for a trusted neighbor to pick up the package, have it held at the post office or request that it be sent with a signature required from someone at your residence.

• If you move, file a change of address form with the post office and notify your financial institutions.

Customers have long been frustrated that few mail thefts appear to get solved. Still, Vida said it is important to report them so local and Postal Service authorities can track the thefts and target specific areas for enforcement. Thefts should be reported to 877-876-2455, Vida said.