Tips To Help Protect Yourself From Mail Theft

Tips To Help Protect Yourself From Mail Theft

According to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, mail theft complaints more than doubled from March 2020 to February 2021. The criminals rob mailboxes and mail carriers of the master keys to the blue mailbox drops to gain access to the mail. The criminals then sift through to locate checks that can be altered, counterfeited, or sold online.

 

In several cases, member-issued checks have been stolen from USPS mailboxes, as well as members’ mailboxes, altered, and negotiated elsewhere. The checks can also be used to open fraudulent new accounts and loans using the name and address information for stolen identities.

You can help prevent this by taking the following actions:

• Pay bills online or using PECU’s e-bill pay service.
• Mail checks inside the Post Office lobby; never use drop boxes or outside blue mailboxes for outgoing mail.
• Log into your PECU accounts frequently to review transaction history – looking for unfamiliar transactions.
• Report unfamiliar and unauthorized transactions immediately to PECU.