United States Postal Service advises people to avoid using blue mail drop boxes around holidays
Officials with the United States Postal Service have issued a warning, urging people to reconsider their use of the large blue collection boxes, at least for the duration of the holiday season.
The United States Postal Service reports that incidents of mail fraud and theft have been on the rise all year, but that these incidents often reach their peak around the holidays.
The United States Postal Service issued a statement in which they said that “groups of criminals across the country are using the internet and social media to coordinate strategic targeting of post office collection boxes.”
If you do decide to utilize a blue collection box for your item, the United States Postal Service recommends that you do so before the last collection of the day in order to cut down on the period of time your shipment is placed in the box.
“The biggest variable enticing these criminals to steal is customers depositing mail into blue collection boxes after the last collection of the day or during Sundays and federal holidays. If customers simply used retail service or inside wall drop slots to send their U.S. mail instead of depositing it to sit outside overnight or through the weekend, blue collection boxes would not be as enticing after business hours to mail thieves for identity theft and check-washing schemes,” USPS said.
Also, it is strongly recommended that individuals never transfer cash over the mail since it is impossible to get the money back if it is lost or stolen.
The United States Postal Service also offers a service called “informed delivery” that will let you know when your mail is delivered.
