Community weekly poll: A Police Officer's view

A Police Officer's view

I've investigated numerous identity theft cases over the years and I would have to conclude that the mailbox is where the bulk of these crimes start.

Some of the blame I put on the banks and credit card companies. I don't know how many times I received ''complimentary'' checks for an account that they were trying to sell me. I can only imagine the hassle I would have trying to clear that up if some meth-head steals those checks and cashes them when I didn't request them in the first place or don't even do business with that instituion...

Unfortunately most incoming mail has some kind of sensitive information on it. Most outgoing mail is usually checks (which ID thieves can wash with chemicals, remove your pen ink, and re-write the check to themselves).

If you're going to mail checks, don't use the old-fashion mailboxes. They don't lock, and the red flag on the side is an indicator to thieves that there's something in the mailbox.

Don't leave mail for any extended period of time, and be alert to who's around your mailbox. I've heard of some thieves who pretend to be delivering the local paper to the mailboxes, and were actually stealing mail.

Not all mail thieves look like thieves...