WARNING: Avoid Using Big Blue Mailboxes In New York

Thousands of New Yorkers will be sending Christmas cards and gifts through the mail over the next couple of weeks and officials with the United States Postal Service are warning you not to use the big blue mailboxes this holiday season.

Over the past several months there has been an increase in the amount of thefts from those mailboxes.

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The main reason is that, unlike during the week, those mailboxes are not checked by mail personnel on the weekend. That means mail can build in them and that makes them tempting for thieves to break into.

If you need to mail something on the weekend you should drop it off at the mailboxes in front of your local post office. Those boxes are under security cameras installed around the post office.

According to masslive.com, the USPS is encouraging people to come into the post office to send their mail.

“The biggest variable enticing these criminals to steal are customers depositing mail into blue collection boxes after the last collection of the day or during Sundays and federal holidays. If customers simply used retail service or inside wall drop slots to send their U.S. Mail, instead of depositing it to sit outside overnight or through the weekend, blue collection boxes would not be as enticing after business hours to mail thieves for identity theft and check-washing schemes"

If you do see someone trying to get into a mailbox outside of normal business hours you can contact your local police department or the postal inspectors at 877-876-2455.