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ON SECURITY

By Susan Bradley • Comment about this article

If you live in the United States, the ideal time to steal items from a mailbox is from early March to April 15.

Why? Because that’s when tax-refund checks get mailed to filers. Mail thefts go up during this period because it’s a window of greatest benefit. It’s a real threat: a coworker’s shared mailbox suffered four break-ins over the past year, with another case reported by yourcentralvalley.com.

This topic, my recommendations, and my solutions may be a bit more USA-centric than usual. However, the guidelines for preventing identity and financial-property theft are universal. The first rule of thumb to keep in mind is that attackers always go after the low-hanging fruit. Just as with any security recommendation, your goal should be to make yourself harder to attack than the guy down the street. Don’t make it easy for attackers.

So what are some steps you can take to prevent mailbox theft from occurring?

Mailing checks is an endangered species. Although many of us use electronic means to pay online or via credit card these days, we still seem to consider tax refunds in the mail typical, and even normal. Clearly, mailbox theft during tax season can be completely avoided by having your refund processed electronically.

The safe way to receive these funds is to enter your banking information (routing number and account number) on your electronically filed tax return. But don’t do that if you filed on paper; it’s no secret that identity theft can occur in many ways, one of which is from a paper tax return. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) hires seasonal employees to enter paper returns. There are, sadly, many examples of these employees stealing the identity information as they perform their key-entry task. Then they use the data to file false tax returns and obtain credit cards.

That’s why I recommend e-filing. Other than you or a tax preparer you may hire, no other human eyes will examine your return unless the system finds an error or problem. The e-filing connection is encrypted and is thus not a potential weak spot.

After you determine that you have a refund coming, think twice about asking for that refund in check format. Instead, put your bank account information into the e-form and request that the funds be deposited automatically. Don’t want the IRS to know your bank accounts? If you’ve written paper checks to the IRS in the past, that routing and account information is already in the IRS files. If you are truly concerned, open a bank account just for the purposes of receiving the tax refund and then close it once the amount has been received by the bank and you’ve transferred it out.

Other countries have similar taxing organizations. Review your options — see what’s available for electronic filing and refunds.

My next recommendation is very USA-centric: signing up for USPS Informed Delivery®. The post office scans mail that is sent to residential delivery addresses. If you activate Informed Delivery, you will receive an email showing images of the envelopes that should be arriving shortly. First you create the account, then you verify that you own/control the address — either by matching your cell phone number with the address or by receiving a code in the mail that you later add into the dashboard to confirm your ownership of the address. Now you can enable emails that will be sent daily to let you know which mail pieces are expected to be delivered. There are times when not all letters are scanned and in the dashboard; but for the most part, it’s a great way to know when something is expected — or whether your mailperson just didn’t deliver to you.

If you plan to mail something sensitive to a government agency, do so the old-fashioned way — mail it certified with a return receipt. It is the ultimate way to receive verification of delivery and provides undeniable proof that you sent the item and that it was received by the addressee. You’ll need to visit the post office in order to obtain the needed postcard, but if you subscribe to services such as stamps.com, they have the ability to prepare this document. If sending the item with electronic tracking is good enough, having it sent via USPS Priority Mail or via any other service that provides a tracking number is often good enough to assure you that the item has been received. For other countries, look for similar mail-tracking services and use them, especially for delivery of sensitive information.

Like any good geek, I don’t just want to know what is coming to my mailbox — I want to know when it has arrived, so I can immediately retrieve the items. Naturally, I look to devices that can alert me when my mailbox door has been opened. There are many on the market.

Two I have personally used range in their degree of tech. The first is based on a magnet; when the magnetic field changes, it sends an email and/or text message to alert me that the mailbox door has been opened. The company MySpool offers other devices, such as water detectors ,and power-failure detectors; for mail, it even offers a “build your own alert” kit. I’ve had this installed since 2019, and — other than changing the batteries every few months — it’s been a very solid means of ensuring that I know when mail has arrived.

If you are into the Ring doorbell ecosystem, you’ll appreciate the Ring Mailbox sensor. This motion sensor sends an alert when the mailbox door is opened; it also senses activity such as mail being placed through the slot. You can even customize the alert; if you have Alexa devices, configure them to announce, “You have mail!” in a style reminiscent of the old AOL. There are many other such solutions in the marketplace, but these two have worked well for me.

The United States Postal Service offers these recommendations to help prevent mail theft:

If you’ve sent a check to a vendor but it never arrived, immediately put a stop order on the check and review your bank account activity on a daily basis. If you are uncomfortable with going online to review your banking activity, use the bank’s online phone system to call in and confirm the five most recent transactions on your bank account. Attackers can steal checks, wash them, and make the amount of the check much larger than the original amount. Consider also where you drop off your payment envelopes. Attackers can use sticky objects connected to a string and actually fish out mail from a postal drop-off location. Try to drop off checks close to the time of pickup, or hand them directly to your mail carrier. When writing a check, ensure you write out the full amount and draw a dark line to fill out any remaining space. Don’t make it easy for the check washers to fill in blank spots. Don’t leave any open areas on a check.

When writing checks, the pen you use may make it harder or easier for attackers to wash that amount off. Look for black gel ink that embeds into the paper. For example, uniball 207 series pens use a pigment-based gel ink that forms a bond in the paper and will not smear, fade, or wash away. Another option is to go back in time to grab a fountain pen and Noodler’s Black ink, which withstands bleach. The right ink can prevent check washing.

I always thought that blue ink was preferred because it didn’t copy well. However, channel 5 in Chicago published an interesting story, Here’s What Color Ink You Should Use to Sign Your Checks to Avoid Fraud, According to BBB, based upon information from the Better Business Bureau. In that story, indelible black inks are the recommendation.

Don’t be the low-hanging fruit. Let them go on to the next person and leave you, and your checks, alone.

Contribute your thoughts in this article’s forum!

Susan Bradley is the publisher of the AskWoody newsletters.

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