Card Thefts

[Runscott]

I finally had cards stolen from me. It wasn't super-significant - someone stole an outgoing bubble-mailer from my mailbox, for a $275 sale. I am fairly sure it was stolen because no mail was left for another two hours and the mailman told me he only stopped by once. In addition, the package was never scanned and a bill that was stolen along with it never had the check cashed.

My first reaction was that now my house might be targeted for a full-scale robbery, so I protected myself. I considered hitting every card shop and antique store in the area to see if it had been sold, and checked ebay daily for a couple of weeks. Basically, I had a hard time getting over the violation. The only constructive idea I've had was to get a P.O. Box and only hand packages directly to the postman. All other thoughts involved violence. I even considered driving around looking for the thief doing the same thing to others, but I'm certain I would tackle him and beat him senseless, landing me in jail. A policeman told me that it's fairly common in the area - car drives by, they see a package, one person jumps out and steals the package. I saw this actually take place with a car break-in at the park. I followed the car around with the intention of 'catching them', but had my girlfriend and dog in the car, so gave it up. I gave the license plate number to the police, but nothing was done. Later I stopped to talk with a college student who had been one of their victims - her homework was in her purse in the car, so she lost a lot of work (not on her computer). At that point I wished I had done something more.

So here's my question (for those of you have had been violated similarly): Should I just forget about it to get over this quicker? The idea of jumping to my door every time I hear a car slow down near my home, perpetually, really kind of disgusts me, but that's where I am at the moment.

I realize that I don't post here often anymore, so perhaps I am not worthy of a serious response , but I do miss a lot of you - just don't have room for the angst of discussion forums anymore. The real world has been amazingly rewarding.

[Leon]

Have a considered asking the real world? Otherwise I would protect myself best I can and forget about it

[Luke]

I've seen locking mailboxes around here and there. I guess the mailman would have a key and it would make breaking into your mailbox a lot harder. And there would be clear evidence that a theft had occured if it ever happened.

[OldEnglishD]

I always hand deliver outgoing packages to the post office. I don't send out too many packages, so it's not a real inconvenience.

Sorry about the theft.

[Head928]

Same thing happened to me this last holiday season.
Although they were large boxes that were left on my porch.
Here are actions I took after the incident.

I sent some emails to local cards shops with what the items were.
I called Fedex and USPS and they told me "tough luck".

I filed a police report along with the pictures and descriptions from the listings.
Then made a home owner's insurances claim. (received a check in about 10 days).

To help prevent this in the future I filled out a form at the post office to no longer receive parcels (i.e. boxes) at my house without someone receiving them in person.
Also I opened a PO Box and just receive all of my Cards etc. there.

All told, it was not that big of a pain and it forced me to go the PO box route which I should have done awhile ago. Good luck-

[Section103]

If someone stole your check written to pay a bill, you should seriously consider notifying your bank and having a new account set up. And, unfortunately, I would suggest not leaving outgoing mail in your box. I had the same thing happen to me about 10 years ago.

[ramram]

you might check the online data base of incident reports in your area. Might be some interesting conclusions to be drawn. Patterns, time of day, day of week, etc.

[rdwyer]

I suggest security cameras that activate when motion is sensed. Also a DVR to record 24 hrs a day even when you're not home.

[Mdmtx]

I think I would wake up early. Hold my urge to use the restroom for a bit. Then when I felt it was properly saved up, I would let it loose in a box. Then wrap it up real nice and place out for delivery. Make sure to retrieve if not stolen, prior to delivery man picking it up. If they are the recipient of such a nice gift, might break their habit.

Mark

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Leon

Have a considered asking the real world? Otherwise I would protect myself best I can and forget about it

I did. I spoke with the police, my postman and a few non-card collecting friends who I thought might have thoughts about the violation of being robbed, even though they don't collect cards. I assume those were the types of things you were referring to.

[Stampsfan]

Really sorry to hear all this. And I'm not looking to hijack the thread.


I'm sitting here in Canada, reading this, and thinking "The USPS picks up outgoing mail from your home?"

We can barely get Canada Post to bring our mail to our door anymore. Most mail is dropped in a multi-box on a corner, and you have to go get it.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Really sorry to hear all this. And I'm not looking to hijack the thread.


I'm sitting here in Canada, reading this, and thinking "The USPS picks up outgoing mail from your home?"

We can barely get Canada Post to bring our mail to our door anymore. Most mail is dropped in a multi-box on a corner, and you have to go get it.

Thanks. This is a very minor thing.

You can put in an online request for mail pick-up and they will knock on your door - it's great. I don't do it because I would have to have the items packed and ready to ship the night before, and I tend to package things at the last minute. But I used that service in Georgia, as the mailman did not come to our apartment door.

The USPS service in Tacoma is the greatest I've experienced. My mailman comes by first thing in the morning to drop off packages, then in the afternoon for everything else. He hides packages (so well that once it took me almost a week to find one!) and made several great suggestions regarding future package pick-up: leave outgoing mail in the milk box, stick it inside my screen door, leave it inside (hidden) the mailbox, or put in an online request the evening before to have packages picked up - then I can leave them inside the house until he arrives and he will ring the bell. The prior mailman knew that I had a lot of outgoing mail, so he always honked twice when he arrived, so that I could hear him if I was working in the garden. You can also get a red flag for your box.

Great guys (and gals) all around.

[ALR-bishop]

I would worry as much about the stolen check , even if not cashed and you stopped payment. I never use my mailbox anymore to pay bills after a similar theft. They got 3 checks, washed them and wrote them for other amounts to other people. Then they created new checks. I had to terminate the account and open another. A hassle. Then they used my info on the checks to create other fake checks on other fake accounts. As a result I got contacts from angry vendors who had my name and info from the fake checks, and contacts from police looking into complaints about bad checks. Fortunately the bank returned almost all the money, but it was a mess for awhile. None of my outgoing mail now goes in my mailbox