The Santa Barbara Police Department says it’s been seeing an increase in mail theft within the city along with surrounding counties in California.
They say offenders are primarily stealing from mailboxes to gain access to personal information, personal and business checks and other details that may be useful to them.
To better protect your personal information, police are suggesting residents obtain a mailbox that can be locked, send outgoing mail directly with a post office attendant, request to pick up keys at your local bank rather than having them sent to your home, place a vacation hold on all incoming mail when leaving your home for an extended time and remember to not leave any mail in your mailbox overnight.
They are also advising victims of identity theft and anyone who might be concerned to report any incidents to identitytheft.gov, to contact their major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) so that your credit can be frozen and to consider enrolling in identity theft protection services.
