Residents can take steps to avoid theft

With stimulus checks on the way, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office detectives would like residents to take extra precautions, particularly with their mail.

“Throughout the last few years we have had short stints of mail theft and mailbox damage in Boundary County,” according to a recent Boundary County Sheriff’s Office press release. “It does not take long for these crimes to cause major losses in our citizen’s lives.”

Every year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) investigates allegations connected to mail theft. On average, the USPS estimates that thousands of arrests are made each year.

“We are just worried that even if people are getting [the stimulus checks] directly deposited, the thieves won’t know that, and they could be most likely doing what they do, out checking mailboxes,” said Kramer. “The other thing that they have to be aware of is most people are home now, so there is more likelihood of someone getting caught for some of the thefts if they show up at someone’s house.”

The Boundary County Sheriff’s Detectives suggest residents make a few changes to help from becoming a victim of mail theft.

“Talk to the U.S. Postal Service and see if those items could be held for your pick up; install a locking mailbox; know when your mail is delivered and be present to empty your mailbox right away; place a camera on your mailbox in case of theft or damage to your property,” as stated in the recent press release.

The USPS advises that in addition to the above suggestions, that residents also not send cash through the mail and think about requesting signature confirmation.

“With the proposed stimulus checks that will be either direct deposited or mailed out over the next couple weeks, we are concerned that there may be attempts to steal mail from mailboxes,” said Boundary County Sheriff Dave Kramer.

In addition to physical mail theft, electronic, or email-related, scams are also forecasted to become an issue.

“There will be a lot of email scams that will try to get people to click on false email links that will have some title like ‘COVID-19 Information or Update,’” said Kramer. “People should be cautious of email scams that they might be receiving. Go to trusted sources for that information. If they get something in their Inbox, be very cautious about opening it up.”

For more information or to report mail theft please contact the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office detectives at 208-267-3151 and contact the USPS in regards to mail fraud online at uspis.gov.