Examining the “Hotspots” for Mail Theft/Stolen Checks
- Mail theft is a major problem
- Postal keys are targeted
- Counterfeits, forgeries, & alterations must be detected before funds are lost
Mail theft and mail carrier robberies are a major factor contributing to the rise in check fraud over the past half decade. Criminals know that within those familiar USPS blue mail boxes are hundreds of documents that can fetch a small fortune, including credit/debit cards, personal identification information -- and, of course, paper checks. To get easy access, criminals are targeting mail carriers to steal the arrow keys to unlock the mailboxes.
In a new article from 7 On Your Side Investigates, the news station notes:
282 postal keys were reported lost or stolen in New York alone last year. That's almost double the amount of 155 from the year before. We're on track to surpass that in 2025.
New Jersey had 191 keys in 2023 and 2024 combined. The small state of Connecticut, 143, for the same time period.
In just these three states, we saw over 500 arrows key stolen -- which sell from $1000 - $2500 via criminal marketplaces.
But, what about the rest of the country?
"Hotspots" for Mail Carrier Robberies
7 on your Side Investigates provides a heat map of mail carrier robberies for the entire country from 2020 to January15, 2025:
It's no surprise that the concentration of robberies occurs in and near major metro areas, as they have the highest concentration of USPS mailboxes. However, we see a distinct concentration in the northeast which could indicate major organized crime rings operation in the area.
Could some of these events be prevented? Frank Albergo, National President of the Postal Police Officers Association believes so. In a post on LinkedIn, Mr. Albergo notes:
Is the USPS Doing Enough?
In 2023, The United States Postal Inspection Service launched "Project Safe Delivery" to combat this surge in mail theft, which includes replacing 50,000 arrow key locks with electronic versions. However, experts warn this is just a drop in the bucket, as there are over 9 million arrow key locks nationwide.
Unfortunately, as reports and data show, the USPS appears to be falling short. In an audit of three Sacramento USPS facilities, there were over 143 arrows keys missing. Furthermore, the USPS released their Mitigating Internal Mail Theft report on October 30, 2024, with some startling findings:
- “Some processes, procedures, and equipment in place to deter internal mail theft.”
- Lack of a nationwide policy restricting personal belongings on the workroom floor
- Elevated supervisor and manager vacancy rates
- No dedicated periodic mail theft awareness employee training
- Some security cameras were not operational due to failures with switches, servers, or cables
- The Postal Inspection Service does not have a documented plan or guidance to monitor the operational status of the cameras
Simply put: FIs cannot rely on the USPS to solve the issues of stolen mail and mail carrier robberies.
Instead, they need to protect themselves and their customers by deploying technologies that detect counterfeits, forgeries, and alterations before funds are lost -- including image forensic AI to analyze deposited check images, which are compared to previously cleared items to identify issues that include check stock as well as discrepancies in amounts and writing styles (font and handwriting).
As check fraud trends are seeing their highest rates, FIs need to take matters into their own hands.