Posted by Jenny at Mail Boss, a resident of another community, on Jul 12, 2011 at 1:04 pm

Mail theft is one of the easiest and most common ways thieves obtain information for identity theft. Most people do not even realize when their mail has been stolen. It sounds like this thief was quite sloppy, using victims' account information to pay HIS OWN bills... most ID thieves are more savvy, working in complex networks making them much more difficult to catch. (Some people steal the info and then sell it or trade it for drugs to others, who collect the information and then use it fraudulently or even sell it online, etc.) To protect yourself, use a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss to keep incoming mail safe, and never send sensitive documents or checks in the mail. Use online bill pay - it's more secure. Finally, always shred sensitive documents before discarding them to thwart dumpster divers.