The City of Albuquerque Postal Service is warning residents this week to be wary of mailboxes when dropping off their letters, cards and packages.
According to the office, they have received several complaints about possible "fishing" attempts to steal mail.
One concerned resident, Sylvia Stearnes, is warning others after she witnessed a mailbox overflowing with mail, creating a ripe opportunity for mail to be stolen, according to KRQE. She believes it's possible that a sticky substance was used on the mailbox by thieves to keep the letters within reach.
According to the Postal Service, these kind of attempts are common, but success is not. They say that their mailboxes have built-in features that help to drastically curb the amount of mail that gets stolen.
Liz Davis, Postal Inspector and Public Information Officer for UPS, said, “So, our mailboxes in recent years, we have gone to higher security box that has various functions in them to stop this kind of behavior from being successful.”
The USPS says that the best time to drop off mail is before collection time to avoid the mail sitting in the mailbox overnight, which is a common time for mail theft. If you see sticky substances on the mailbox or any other tampering, it's encouraged that you drop your mail off inside at the post office.
