Tarrytown Police Warn Of Mailbox Fishing

TARRYTOWN, NY — Tarrytown Police posted to Facebook a caution for people who use the U.S. Postal Service to mail checks or money. It said to “Beware of Mailbox Fishing!” The post said thefts from mailboxes have long been a problem in New York City with people using gadgets like glue-covered plastic bottles to retrieve envelopes from mailboxes.

According to a March 1 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, eight people were charged with bank fraud and mail theft conspiracy in the Bronx.

Then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the perpetrators fished checks and money orders out of mailboxes, and then would sell the checks and money orders to other, remove the payees’ names or simply deposit the checks and money order into a bank account.

Since late 2015, there have been 50 state arrests of individuals in a particular area of the Bronx for theft of mail and more than $750,000 in checks and money order were traced to those theft schemes.

The Tarrytown Police Department said there are ways to prevent becoming a victim of mailbox fishing.

• Consider transfering your money via other methods
• Drop mail containing checks directly at the post office or hand it directly to your mail carrier
• If you use a mailbox, deposit the mail as close to the scheduled pickup time as possible
• When writing a check, use a pen with pigmented oink that cannot be erased

Patch file photo.