Residents of a small neighborhood just east of Paso Robles have fallen victim to mail thieves, who have stolen everything from birthday cards to checkbooks.
The mailboxes are clustered at Jardine Road and Weeping Willow Way and, according to residents, it's a one-stop shop for crooks.
"It's just an easy outlet for thieves," Floya Hull, a resident of the Jardine neighborhood, said.
While residents like Hull are away at work, parcel predators swoop in and steal mail.
"We were expecting some bank checks that never came," Bryn Beasley, a resident of the Jardine neighborhood, said.
After Beasley saw a post in a neighborhood watch group warning of the mail thefts, suspicion took over. So she paid a visit to the bank and received some startling news.
"Several checks were pending at that time," Beasley said. "One cleared in the amount of $6,500."
A copy of that fraudulent check shows it was made out to an LLC, only Beasley's husband, Matthew, never actually signed the slip.
"It's kind of a heart stopper, you just go wow, they have the gull to do that?" Beasley said.
Fortunately, the bank stopped the pending checks and returned the $6,500.
But the mail stolen from Hull and her husband created a much longer lasting headache.
"My husband's ID was stolen and they tried to do a false income tax return on him," Hull said.
The result is that Hull's husband had to delay filing his tax returns and his check from the IRS was held up for months.
Now, as mail box bandits continue to target these residents, they say they've had enough.
"It's $80 a year to do a P.O. box and then you have to go to the post office and check it," Hull said. "It's just kind of an inconvenience you know you drive right by your own mail box but you're in fear that your mail isn't in there."
Hull and Beasley said they have filed reports with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.
