Identity thieves often start with the mailbox

Identity theft is a growing problem, and the criminals who conduct it are getting more clever every day. With elaborate phishing schemes, telemarketing fraud and all manner of other things, the modern consumer must be quite diligent in order to avoid becoming a victim. Despite all of the warnings about elaborate theft schemes, the most common one is also the simplest - stealing mail. That remains the primary method most thieves use to obtain personal information from their victims.

Credit card bills, Social Security checks, tax refunds and utility bills are commonly thrown in the mailbox for pickup by the Postal Service. Identity thieves simply make the rounds of the neighborhood and pick up outgoing mail before it is picked up or incoming mail before the recipient goes to the box to get it. The amount of personal information that can be found by stealing mail is astonishing.

What can you do about it? Here are a few suggestions that may help prevent you from becoming an identity theft victim:

• Take your mail to the Post Office. Don’t put it in your mailbox; the red flag on the box is a sure sign to thieves that there is mail there to be stolen. Why tip them off?
• Pick up your mail as soon as you can after delivery. Even better - get a Post Office box and have your mail delivered there. That way, it’s locked with a key lock and only you will have access to it.
• Do you trust your neighbors? If not, you should probably have your mail stopped when you go out of town, rather than have your neighbors pick your mail up for you. They could be snooping without your even knowing about it.

And what are thieves looking for? You might be surprised at how much of your mail might be useful to them:

• Checks - payment going out and payments coming in. Your own checks have information on them that could potentially be used to access your bank account. The same goes for bank statements. Even worse - a box of checks from your bank. A thief could use those and pass bad checks all over town - all in your name.
• Utility bills - These often contain enough information that a thief could use it to open other accounts in your name. You might never even know about it.
• Credit card offers - Those preapproved offers you get in the mail could be intercepted and a thief could use them to open credit card accounts in your name.  You should always shred these if you elect not to use them.

The list of potential fraud from stealing incoming or outgoing mail is a long one. The theives become more clever every day and every single piece of mail you send or receive is a potential tool that can be used against you. Your best defense is to take control of your mail and make sure that only you can get at it.

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