Mail Theft in Central Arkansas|Channel 7 News

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Mail Theft in Central Arkansas

posted 11:07 pm Thu February 07, 2008 - Arkansas

tags: victims • identity • theft

Last year alone more than nine million Americans were victims of identity theft.

And while you may take steps to protect your personal information online there is another way thieves in Central Arkansas are stealing identities.

Thieves who are after you identity can get just about everything they need right out of your mailbox.

Mail theft has become so prevalent in Central Arkansas that after I started investigating this crime wave, I myself think I became a victim.

So it you don't think it can happen to you, think again.

(Melanie Orintas, victim)"We have no idea what was missing, bill, checks, have no idea."

(Stacy Major, victim)"You feel violated. You've taken my privacy away. Now what do I."

(Dottie Gill, victim)"I was angry. I was mad. Is nothing sacred now?"

These three ladies share one thing in common--they have all had their mail stolen. Dottie Gill caught the culprits in the act one afternoon when she was returning home from running errands - but they got away.

(Gill) "The car was coming towards me, stopped at my mailbox. I watched him pull the mail out of my mailbox and he handed it to the girl that was with him."

(Gill) "So I picked up my cell phone, called 911 and chased after them and lost them down Chenal Parkway because of the traffic."
I
t happened to Stacy Major more than a year ago but she is still feeling the repercussions. She didn't realize she had been victimized until her bank called.
(
Stacy Major, victim) "They were questioning this check for $6000. Well I hadn't been to Conway and bought TV sets let alone written a check for $6000. And then it just snow balled from there. Turned out to be a total of almost $10,000."

Stacy had ordered checks to be delivered to her North Little Rock home--but someone else got to them first before Stacy could get them out of her mailbox. Then Stacy says the thief made a fake license using Stacy's name.

(Major)"It was just a nightmare. Had I not had my one check we would have had no money to live on until the checks could have come back through. It was just a nightmare. I couldn't buy groceries. I had bills to pay."

Watch how quickly it can happen--this video captured by a home surveillance camera in January shows someone driving up and getting the mail out of a west little rock mailbox -but that driver--who has yet to be identified--isn't the homeowner.

And just like that all of your personal information sitting inside your mailbox can be compromised.

(Lt. Terry Hasting, Little Rock Police)"There's lots of information that's included in your mail that has personal information, your SSN, ACC numbers, credit cards that are reissued to you. Who knows what people can take and use to get into your personal accounts."

Stealing mail is a federal crime and u-s postal inspectors say they are tracking an organized group of thieves who are after your mail.
While they likely move from one neighborhood to the next the hot spot right now appears to be West Little Rock.

Over the past three and half years postal inspectors say they have gotten more than 350 complaints of mail theft from that area - and there may be many more incidents that have gone unreported.

(Daniel Medrano, U.S. Postal Inspector)"This particular group we're looking at, they know what they're doing. So you need to protect yourselves."

And here's what you can do to secure your mailbox.

You can do that by buying a lock box that fits inside a standard mailbox, so when the mail carriers puts the mail in it's unreachable without a key or....

(Medrano)"Something simple like a little lock on your mailbox will prevent them from taking your mail. But first you need to make sure you put a little slit in the front of box so the carrier can slide the mail in. The other thing you can do is rent a P.O. Box."

And never leave outgoing mail with personal information sitting in your mailbox. Whenever you order checks be sure to have them delivered to the bank. And have your local post office hold your mail when you go out of town.

All the steps will help to make sure you don't become a victim because you never know when someone could try to steal your mail.
T
ake a close look at this woman and see if you recognize her.
This surveillance video shows a woman believed to be connected to the ring that is stealing mail going on a shopping spree at Wal-Mart with a victim's credit card.

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Investigators need your help identifying her.

(Medrano) "We're not sure how long they've been doing this but we know about them. We are actively investigating them and hopefully we will be able to send this to the prosecutor in the near future."

If you think your mail has been stolen you need to report it to postal inspectors and to your local police department.

And as investigators told me after I had my mail stolen-- it's a good idea to call one of the three credit bureaus and flag your social security number if you think you are victim.

That way if someone tries to open a new account you will be immediately notified.

Latest Comment on Mail Theft in Central Arkansas

sqsme

4:21 pm on 02/07/08

If you live in Garland County and have mail stolen, sorry! In 2001 Montgomery County Sheriffs office called and said they had our mail. We went to recover our mail and ask if they had the perps. Response was no, but we know who they are and where they are. You will need to contact Garland County Sheriffs office because the crime happened in Garland Cty. We did as told. We are still waiting for either Garland Cty or Montgomery Cty to contact us. They both had bigger fish to fry, so they told us.

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