Thefts of mail from mailboxes of the United States Postal Service (USPS) have been repeatedly occurring. Recently, two Chinese-owned businesses in the Boston area have fallen victim to such incidents.
A Chinese business owner working in Boston told the media on June 19th that in early May around 7 a.m., he had sent a check for advertising fees from a mailbox outside the post office. However, he recently discovered that his check had been sent to Florida, and the amount had been altered from a few tens of dollars to $5000. Fortunately, the Florida police arrested a local criminal gang and intercepted the check, preventing the business owner from suffering any loss.
Another Chinese business owner recently informed the media that she had mailed two checks to different institutions and had them stolen after dropping them off in the outdoor blue mailbox after work.
The theft of mail from outdoor blue mailboxes has occurred repeatedly in various locations across the United States.
In October and November 2021, Attleboro, Massachusetts reported over 20 such cases. Local authorities stated that the thieves used “fishing tools” to extract mail from the mailboxes.
In December 2022, the Wellesley Police Department in Massachusetts received numerous reports of mail theft and check forgery. Local authorities believe that the thieves illegally obtained keys to certain USPS blue mailboxes. The Wellesley police declared, “Thieves alter and rewrite the stolen checks from the post office and then deposit them into different bank accounts. Furthermore, your checks contain your personal information and bank account details. If your check falls into the wrong hands, this information can easily be sold online.”
In June 2023, two Chinese individuals known as the “Mailbag Thieves” were arrested in New York City. According to a notification from the New York City Police Department on June 27th that year, the two suspects, Jiang Yuan and Yuxiang Zheng, were not USPS employees but possessed arrow keys for USPS mail relay boxes. Authorities allege that surveillance footage captured the two individuals using the keys to open mailboxes and steal mail.
On March 18th this year, Bedford, Massachusetts, also reported a theft case where a thief used keys to open mailboxes. At 1:30 a.m. that day, a police officer saw a Jeep parked at the back door of the 158 Great Road post office. An individual emerged from the car, opened a nearby mailbox, took the mail, and returned to the vehicle. The officer chased the suspect’s vehicle but could not catch up.
New York Congressman Meng Zhao Wen had already written to the USPS in 2022 regarding mailbox theft incidents, urging them to strengthen prevention measures. The USPS responded by stating that they would replace the keys used by mail carriers, install higher security mailboxes, and make other upgrades.
Police recommendations to prevent mailbox theft include:
★ Take important mail to indoor mailboxes at the post office for delivery or hand it to postal staff inside the post office rather than using street mailboxes;
★ If using street mailboxes, it is advised to mail close to the scheduled pickup time, for example, if mail is collected at 10 a.m., send it at 9:45 a.m.;
★ When writing checks, use a permanent, oil-based pen so that the name and amount are not easily altered.