Postal officials urge extra steps for safety

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 | 11:51 a.m.

For Rosemary Naples, it's worth an extra few minutes a day to stop by the post office to pick up her mail. That building, she said, provides an extra measure of safety that is important to her.

"I have all my checks sent to the post office because I want to make sure only I get them," Naples said in front of the Redrock Vista postal station at 2449 N. Tenaya Way. "I just feel safer picking it up here in my post office box."

If Las Vegas residents take the recent advice of local postal officials, more will be following her lead.

Naples lives near Summerlin where on Dec. 15 someone broke into about 200 locked neighborhood mailboxes and got away with many residents' mail.

"We have seen an increase in the amount of mail theft recently in the valley, and we are recommending that customers take outgoing mail to a post office," Postal Inspector Marie Timms said. "We are still investigating the Summerlin thefts, and there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest."

The Summerlin thefts are only one instance in the growing number of mail thefts that can lead to financial crimes, Metro Police Detective Paul Evans said.

"Personal information like Social Security numbers and account numbers are all these criminals need to make fake credit cards and checks that draw out of your accounts," Evans said. "All that information is waiting in the mailbox in the form of account statements, bills and checks. What residents need to try to do is keep that information from getting to their hands through the mail."

Any residents using the old-style mailboxes instead of the locking neighborhood box units are inviting theft, but as the recent thefts in Summerlin show, even a locked box is not completely safe, Evans said.

"The best way to keep this information out of criminals' hands is to take all outgoing mail to the post office and get a post office box for incoming mail," Evans said. "About a year ago, we had a case where an entire neighborhood box was stolen and the locking mechanism was taken out so that they could make duplicate keys.

"Since all the mailboxes around town are under one master key, they were going around and taking whatever they wanted, and it's entirely possible that there could be duplicate keys floating around."

Police found the cluster, or neighborhood box, in a desert area after suspects told them where they had ditched it following the theft of the locking mechanism.

The Postal Service is in the planning stages of changes that will help consumers to better protect their mail, Timms said.

Until those changes are completed and made public, the Postal Service has listed several ways that residents can make their mail safer.

* Never send cash in the mail, and if you are sending something irreplaceable or of great value, use registered mail.

* Promptly remove your mail from the box as soon as possible after delivery, especially if you are expecting checks, credit cards, food coupons or other valuable mail.

* Report any suspicious activity around apartment mailrooms or mailboxes to postal inspectors at 796-5272, and never let others into a mailroom if they don't have a key.

* If you do business out of your home, or receive large volumes of mail daily, consider renting a post office box. A box in a post office offers the highest level of security, and mail is usually ready for pickup by 9 a.m. daily.

* When you move, notify your correspondents and the Postal Service of your new address before you move.

* Consider using a locked mailbox if you don't have one. You can modify your existing box or contact the Postal Service to request a neighborhood box unit.

Most mailbox thefts during this time of year will occur after 9 p.m., and will typically involve a suspect driving up and down streets systematically swiping mail, Evans said.

"If you notice anyone loitering near a mailbox it's important to call postal inspectors or police as soon as possible," Evans said.

Evans cautions that although the mailbox is an easy place for personal information to be acquired, other sources such as the Internet, telephone, Health Department, voter registration and other public records are also options criminals use.

Mail theft is becoming a favorite target because of the possibility of finding personal checks, Evans said.

Once criminals have a personal check, they can wash it clean with substances such as brake fluid and then write it out to themselves and cash it. Credit-card statements give the criminal access to account numbers and enough information to make counterfeit cards.

"Many of the people involved in this are on drugs and are looking to fund their habit," Evans said. "They sit at home with their computers, scanners and digital cameras and make up false cards and checks."

Evans recommends that residents shred all documents with personal information on them.

In Metro's jurisdiction about $800,000 to $1 million a month is lost to credit-card and check fraud, Evans said.