US Postal Inspectors Need Your Help To Identify Suspicious Mailbox Activity
DENVER (CBS4) - Nextdoor and neighborhood watch apps are seeing frequent posts of mailbox theft around the Denver metro area. Are the thefts truly on the rise, or are more people just paying attention?
"We've seen some uptick in mail theft in parts of the country including Denver, but we've mostly seen some people trying to take advantage of these unemployment insurance opportunities," said Eric Manuel, US Postal Service Inspection Inspector.
Manuel explains data is still being collected to know what thieves are targeting, whether it's personal information, or unemployment benefits, or a combination of factors. The Colorado Department of Employment and Labor has been warning about mail fraud for weeks now.
"They know those Reliacards go out, so what they're trying to do, all this MLS information is available online so we have found if you posted online a rental property, if you posted your home for sale on an MLS listing, that it is likely that address will be utilized for fraudulent claims," Phil Spesshardt, CDLE Benefits Services Manager warned.
"So postal inspectors joined a nationwide task force with the Department of Justice," Manuel said.
The National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force, as its name suggests, is aimed at fraud. They have already prosecuted large rings of criminals, but they do more with your help. They're asking that anyone with suspicious mail contact specifically the US Postal Inspection Service, in addition to reporting to CDLE if related to unemployment.
"We encourage you to retain the original card, the original envelope because we can use data from all of that to support our investigation," he added.
Manuel also added, one option to prevent theft may be to use a lockbox and to sign up for informed delivery so you know exactly what is coming to your residence. Though he wants to remind everyone, the number one thing is to always check the mail.
