Package Theft Tips

Cambridge Police Share Tips to Help Residents Protect their Mail & Packages this Holiday Season

12/6/2011

The Cambridge Police Department would like to remind citizens to take extra care this time of year when having mail and packages delivered to their residence. Please review the following tips to help protect yourself and your belongings.

Protect Outgoing Mail and Packages:

Do not leave mail with checks or money orders in your personal mailbox for pickup by the mail carrier. Take your mail to a postal collection box. These boxes are safer and more secure because they are locked.
Further protect yourself by taking your mail to a post office and handing it to a postal worker yourself.
Do not leave packages on your front porch for pick up by private carriers. Using FedEx or UPS does not mean your packages will be safer. Often, when drivers deliver packages, they leave them sitting on the front porch. During the holidays, thieves will drive around neighborhoods looking for boxes on porches to steal.
If you are sending a package, let the person you are sending it to know that it is coming and when to expect it to arrive so they can make arrangements for pick up.
Insure any packages you are sending for the replacement cost of the items shipped. Most carriers and the United States Postal Service offer insurance.

Protect Incoming Mail and Packages:

Promptly Retrieve Your Mail: The United States Postal Inspection Service strongly recommends that you pick up mail from your mailbox as soon as possible after delivery, especially if you are expecting to receive a check or merchandise.
If you can’t pick up your mail each day, ask a trusted friend or neighbor to do it for you. The U.S. Postal Service can also hold your mail if you’ll be traveling during the holidays.
Report Mail Theft: Approximately 40 percent of the arrests made by Postal Inspectors last year were related to mail theft. If you receive mail with the contents missing, or fail to receive mail you were expecting, you may be a victim of mail fraud . Contact the shipper first to be sure the items were sent properly. If you determine that the shipper was not at fault, immediately file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Report incidents to the Cambridge Police Department immediately by calling 617-349-3300.

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Robert C. Haas
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Phone:617.349.3300