Seven Ways to Keep Your Mail Safe This Holiday Season

If you’re mailing or receiving gifts for the holidays, it’s important to keep your mail safe from thieves.

Here are a few tips:

• Get a post office box. If theft is a concern, the cost of renting a post office box may be worth the investment. Thefts from such boxes are rare, according to postal authorities.
• Pick up mail promptly. Mail thieves often follow carriers on their routes, striking within 15 minutes after delivery. If you’re home during the day, pick up mail as soon as possible. If you’re not home, ask a trusted neighbor to get your mail.
• Keep your mailbox visible. Trim shrubbery to keep your mailbox as visible as possible, eliminating hiding places for thieves.
• Don’t leave outgoing mail in your mailbox. That little red flag is an invitation to thieves. Take outgoing mail to your office or mail it at a post office or mailing outlet store.
• Don’t mail holiday gifts from home. They’ll not only steal your package, but they’ll also peel off the stamps and use those too.
• Don’t put mail in street mailboxes. The highest rate of mail theft locally is from those big, blue Postal Service mailboxes located on street corners and at other public places.
• Send valuables via registered mail. Registered mail is kept under lock and key, and it is signed for every time it changes processing centers.

For more tips on other common fraud and theft attempts, visit ecu.com/tools-resources/fraud-theft-protection/.