Thieves steal mail

Thieves have stolen mail from this mailbox out front of the Middlebury Post Office at least twice since May. The thefts have cost residents money and time as they have dealt with the loss of checks they mailed there. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Thieves have struck the big blue mailbox out front of the Middlebury Post Office at least twice this year, first over Memorial Day weekend and then again the third week in July. The postal service has yet to do anything to prevent future thefts, other than starting an investigation into the matter. One local business owner learned about it the hard way when their bank called to let them know an altered check had been presented for payment and vendors started calling to ask why they had not been paid.

The local postmistress, Brenda Sagnella, was not free to explain why the postal service didn’t post a notice explaining the situation shortly after the Memorial Day weekend theft. We contacted the postal inspectors for more information August 18, but have not yet heard back from them.

A mystery Good Samaritan has been posting a notice on the box’s mail chute warning folks not to deposit mail there when the post office is not open. While we wait for the postal service to act, residents need to know the only time it is safe to deposit mail in that box is while the post office is open. After hours, park your car, go inside and deposit your mail in the slot inside the post office.

Postal workers collect all mail from the outside box at the end of each work day. That is at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and at noon on Saturday.

The thefts here in Middlebury appear to be linked to a mail carrier robbery in Waterbury although we don’t yet have confirmation of that information. We understand the robbers obtained a mailbox key that opens a number of mailboxes, including the one out front of the Middlebury post office.

The local business owner, who asked not to be identified, said they dropped mail containing both business and personal checks into the mailbox after hours, trusting the postal service would keep their mail safe. They realized there was a problem when their bank called to ask if they had issued a check in a certain amount to a certain person. They had not. The bank froze their account.

Then the nightmare of recovering from the theft began. They had to close the bank account and then contact everyone who had outstanding checks. Unfortunately, payroll checks had already been processed and denied, so the business owner had to reimburse service charges.

They had to destroy the just-ordered 1,000 checks and books of deposit slips for the compromised account. They had to deal with the state and federal payroll tax debits that had been rejected, resulting in penalties to the business.

The business also accepts credit card payments that automatically deposit into their bank account. The credit card companies were trying to deposit them into the now-closed account.

Then there was the matter of opening a new account and dealing with the starter checks banks issue while customers wait for their printed checks to arrive. Those checks couldn’t print through the business’s accounting software, so all had to be handwritten. In addition, the accounting program had to be set up for the new checking account.

Next, a call came in from the bank for one of the personal checks that had been mailed. It had been altered to change an amount from hundreds to thousands. Now the business owner had to also close their personal account and open a new account. And, as many of us do, they had a number of monthly debits set up for their personal account and had to sort those out.

The business owner spent several weeks and hundreds of dollars recovering from this theft. They said, “Someone should be liable. In this day and age, you should be able to put mail in the post office mailbox and know it won’t get stolen.”

They also shared that a friend in Plymouth had put mail with a check in the mailbox outside their home. That mail was stolen and a check was altered. Fortunately, the friend’s bank caught it, but the business owner now warns all their friends not to put mailed payments in their home mailboxes.

The business owner remains extremely upset, saying “I can’t believe this happened.” They also are concerned that the thieves obtained personal information from the personal checks that were stolen. “At the end of the day, if no one gets charged, I’ll lose all faith in our postal service,” they said.

It turns out the U.S.P.S. issued a press release on May 12, 2023, that included steps it was taking to combat thefts. Middlebury Postmistress Sagnella was as helpful as she could be, but because this matter was turned over to the investigative services, she is not allowed to comment publicly.

She did note, however, that Middlebury’s post office is among the smaller facilities. It seems likely crime prevention steps will be taken at larger facilities first.

The May press release said the Postal Service would do two things aimed at protecting mail carriers and the mail. It is installing 12,000 high security blue collection boxes in high security risk areas and will continue to evaluate replacing additional existing blue collection boxes with the enhanced boxes.

It also is replacing 49,000 of the current antiquated arrow locks with electronic locks. It said this is in response to a nationwide increase in letter carrier robberies where criminals seek to obtain the Arrow and Modified Arrow Lock (MAL) keys.

As is happening in Middlebury, the Postal Service noted criminals who steal the keys then use them to steal mail from secure mail receptacles to commit financial crimes, including altering checks to commit check fraud. The new locks have been installed in select cities and are expected in major metropolitan areas soon.

In the meantime, the Postal Service offers customers the following tips for safeguarding their mail:

• Don’t let incoming or outgoing mail sit in your mailbox. You can significantly reduce the chance of being victimized by simply removing your mail from your mailbox every day.
• Deposit outgoing mail through a number of secure manners including inside your local post office or at your place of business or by handing it to a letter carrier.
• Sign up for Informed Delivery and get daily digest emails that preview your mail and packages scheduled to arrive soon.
• Become involved and engaged in your neighborhood via neighborhood watches and local social media groups to spread awareness and share information.
• Keep an eye out for your letter carrier. If you see something that looks suspicious, or you see someone following your carrier, call 911.

Customers are encouraged to report stolen mail as soon as possible by submitting an online complaint to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report or calling 877-876-2455.

Additionally, individuals are encouraged to report allegations of Postal Service employee misconduct, including attempts to corrupt a Postal Service employee, to the USPS OIG at 1-888-877-7644 or www.uspsoig.gov.