Protect Your Mailbox While You Are Away
When you are out on vacation, your mailbox may be full with catalogs, holiday cards and junk mail in addition to your regular mail. This is a very lucrative opportunity for thieves to steal important letters from your mailbox. The United States postal inspection service confirms that there are thousands of mail frauds every year. You may not get ordered merchandise or some unsolicited credit card offers from your mailbox may be taken away by thieves.
The following are 'safe mail habits' -
1. You should always lock your mailbox - It may be a credit card statement or it may be a year-end offer from your bank. These letters may not be of much importance to you, but they are very important for the thieves. They can misuse your identity on the basis of information they get from such letters and ruin your financial stability. You should keep your mailbox locked and should limit the number of keys. This may not provide you total protection by it will definitely deter a potential thief.
2. Avoid the risk of check washing by using Check-Safe ink - If the checks you write go into wrong hands, they may erase the name on the check and the money may be transferred to wrong account. And you may not know about it till you come back. You should always write checks using Check-Safe ink. Always fill out all the blanks on your check.
3. Pick up your mail promptly - You should pick up mail from your mailbox within a short time after its delivery, if you are expecting some merchandise or some important letter. If you are unable to pick up your mail while on vacation, request a trusted friend or your neighbor to do it. You can also request the U.S. Postal Service to hold your mail while you are away.
4. Reporting the theft is very important - On arrival, if you do not receive some important mail which you were expecting, or if you find the contents of a packet missing, first confirm with the shipper. Then you can make a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection service. It may help their inspectors to catch a thief.
Protecting your mailbox may be your last priority but these small precautions can keep your mail as well as your identity safe while you are away.
Published by Chintamani Abhyankar
I specialize in taxation, personal finance and identity theft issues. My tax strategies for small business owners have resulted in saving thousands of dollars to my clients. Beginning my career as a chart... View profile
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