Mail Theft Monday – Memorial Day

Latest Clay County Crime Watch List
Clay Today – 5/28/10

(ORANGE PARK, FLORIDA) “On 05/21/10 mail was stolen from a mail box at a residence on Hillside Drive (OLDE SUTTON FOREST) in Orange Park.”

COMMENTS: The best way to prevent this from happening is a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss. That simple.

Woman cashing stolen check sought
The Advocate – 5/27/10

(LIVINGSTON, LOUISIANA) “East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office detectives and the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies are looking for a woman who cashed a stolen check that was reportedly taken from the mail, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said in a news release today. […]

An unknown black woman was seen cashing the check in the amount of $343.24 on April 13 at the Walmart in Central, Hicks said. The Livingston Parish deputies contacted the Sheriff’s Office concerning the check. Detectives obtained surveillance footage from the Walmart which showed the woman cashing the stolen check, Hicks said. […]”

COMMENTS: Mail theft is a growing problem across the nation. To protect yourself from mail identity theft, check & credit card fraud you need to:

1. Use a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss to secure incoming mail – remember most ID theft victims don’t know how their information was stolen and thieves target your unlocked mailbox.
2. Never send sensitive mail i.e. checks from an unlocked mailbox – take them to the blue USPS collection boxes, the post office, or better yet use online bill pay.. it’s safer!
3. Always shred sensitive documents before discarding them. (But remember, most of what you shred comes from your mailbox – thieves would rather take it from there than the dump!)

Florida Woman Gets Breast Implants With Stolen Identity
Hip-Hop Wired – 5/27/10

(BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA) “A Broward County, Florida woman is in police custody after authorities say she swiped someone’s credit card and used it to pay for her $9,000 implants.

Police arrested 29-year-old Shatarka Nuby after they say she stole the credit card information of a girl who wrote it on a college application and tried to mail it off to a University.

The girl’s application was never received by the college and she discovered she was $19,000 in debt from five cards that were illegally taken out in her name. […]”

Police report that she has a history of identity theft and served just under a year in jail for three incidents of fraud in 2008. […]”

COMMENTS: Mail Identity Theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation, and there are several steps you should take to protect yourself:

1. Secure your incoming mail with a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss – prevent thieves from stealing your bank statements, credit card applications, utility bills and more.
2. Never send sensitive documents including checks or account info from an unlocked mailbox – bring it to a blue USPS collection box or directly to the Post office to reduce the likelihood of thieves swiping it from the mail. (This would have prevented the whole mess above)
3. Always shred sensitive documents before discarding them, but remember – most of what you shred comes in your un-locked mailbox, and thieves would rather steal from your mailbox than the dump.

Women accused of stealing from mailboxes
STLtoday.com – 5/26/10

(ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI) “Two St. Louis women were arrested Tuesday and have been accused of stealing checks and other mail from mailboxes in the St. Louis area, court documents show.

April Lynn Dunn and Keleen Badalmenti pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy and two counts each of mail theft and bank fraud.

In December, the two cruised neighborhoods in St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties, stealing mail from mailboxes and fraudulently endorsing and cashing the checks they found, according to an indictment that was unsealed after their arrests.

Dunn and Badalmenti cashed two checks totaling more than $1,900 that belonged to a person from Florissant, the indictment claims.

In court Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bodenhausen asked for both women to be held in jail until their trial, citing Badalmenti’s “fairly significant drug problem” and the fact that Dunn is still on supervised release from a 2005 federal criminal case. In that case, she and others were accused of stealing mail and using the checks and credit cards for drugs. Dunn was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Badalamenti pleaded guilty in 2004 to a methamphetamine-related charge and was sentenced to 63 months in prison.”

In December, the two cruised neighborhoods in St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties, stealing mail from mailboxes and fraudulently endorsing and cashing the checks they found, according to an indictment that was unsealed after their arrests.

Dunn and Badalmenti cashed two checks totaling more than $1,900 that belonged to a person from Florissant, the indictment claims.

In court Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bodenhausen asked for both women to be held in jail until their trial, citing Badalmenti’s “fairly significant drug problem” and the fact that Dunn is still on supervised release from a 2005 federal criminal case. In that case, she and others were accused of stealing mail and using the checks and credit cards for drugs. Dunn was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Badalamenti pleaded guilty in 2004 to a methamphetamine-related charge and was sentenced to 63 months in prison.”

COMMENTS: These repeat mail-identity theft offenders are methamphetamine addicts. Big surprise! These criminals feed their drug habits by stealing mail. Sometimes they find a check to cash fraudulently. Other times, they just collect sensitive documents which they can sell or trade for meth, or later use to commit identity theft. Regardless, this crime of opportunity is among the fastest growing in the country, and we need to take steps to protect ourselves.

Most people use a paper shredder without thinking about what they shred – usually, the documents that come in their curbside mailbox. The problem is it is much easier for thieves to steal mail from your mailbox than from the dump, and there are over 60 million unlocked mailboxes in the United States (and many poor quality locking mailboxes that can be easily burglarized to boot!) This translates to a massive opportunity for mail identity thieves.

To protect yourself from mail identity theft, you need to use a high security locking mailbox made of heavy-gauge steel that can’t be fished by hand or pried open with a screwdriver. The Mail Boss is a good quality option available in the St. Louis area at Rural King, Ace Hardware and True Value. To find a Mail Boss dealer near you, use our Store Locator.

2 plead guilty in scheme to steal patient identities
Tulsa World – 5/27/10

(TULSA, OKLAHOMA) “Two women have pleaded guilty to conspiring to take patients’ personal identifying information from St. Francis Hospital’s computer system and use it as part of a scheme involving fraudulent credit cards and stolen mail.

Teresa R. Browning, 36, entered that plea Wednesday and also admitted committing aggravated identity theft during the course of the plot with Betty R. Warden of Mannford. Warden, 45, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge Monday.

[…]The scheme also involved the stealing of mail, including envelopes that contained checks. Both Browning and Warden agreed that the total amount of loss to banks was $12,951.23.

[…] U.S. District Judge James Payne is scheduled to sentence Browning and Warden — who are both free on bond — on Oct. 26. Under the federal aggravated identity theft statute, Browning faces at least two years in prison. Gallant estimated that Warden faces between 15 and 21 months in prison.”

COMMENTS: These criminals never receive harsh enough punishments! Often times they are out after just a few months for “good behavior” meanwhile their victims are still pulling their hair out trying to repair their credit and restore their good names.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the country and most victims don’t know how their information was taken. Mail theft accounts for a huge part of it (as in this case) – and prevention is key! Most people use a paper shredder but receive their mail in unlocked mailboxes. Americans should use a high quality security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss (available at Rural King, Ace Hardware and True Value) to protect your incoming mail from identity thieves. Also, never send mail from an unlocked mailbox – bring it to the post office or better yet use online bill pay!