Don't put checks in the mail, the US Postal Service is warning.

[MechAg94]

Avoid mailing your checks, experts warn. Here's what's going on with the USPS.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-postal-service-warning-checks-mail-fraud-theft/

Don't send checks through the mail, the post office is warning. Criminals are stealing more than ever.
https://www.businessinsider.com/post-office-check-fraud-mailing-be-careful-usps-scam-2023-6

It appears there are warnings out not to send checks via the mail due to increased theft of mail.  Looks like it is mostly theft from USPS drop boxes and other outgoing mail boxes.  I guess the USPS is not going to do anything about their security.  If we can't use the Post Office for this, what is left?  Junk mail and magazines?  I guess you can receive paper bills and pay online.

One recommendation is to drop any mail at the mail slots inside the post office.  I have been doing that for years.  My local post office shut down the blue drop box outside for a while.  Not sure if it is still out of service.

Edit:  Thanks to Steve Lehto for the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oxTbPHpuow

[BobR]

We quit using out neighborhood mail in/out boxes for outgoing for a while now because stuff was going missing. We make a trip to the post office and walk the mail in every couple of days.

bob

[WLJ]

Seen report of mailmen getting robbed and the thieves taking the keys to mailboxes.

[Perd Hapley]

I thought Donald Trump dismantled the USPS years ago.

[MillCreek]

We have been told by the USPS there is one key that opens up all the mailbox stands in our zipcode and that key has been stolen and copied.  According to the local FB pages, mail theft of both outgoing and incoming mail is a chronic problem in this area.

[Ben]

When my dad passed away I had late bills of his to pay, because the week he passed away, somebody chained up the big community mailbox in his subdivision to their truck, pulled it out of the ground, and drove off with it. When I was tracking down his mail, the post office told me that was happening all over town every week.

I had his mail forwarded to me. My mailbox is a quarter mile from the house, but nobody is stealing mail here, since they don't want to end up in the slough. 

I always take my important mail to the local post office, but it seems most of my neighbors all still just put up the little red flag on their boxes for the mail lady to pick their mail up.

[K Frame]

Seen report of mailmen getting robbed and the thieves taking the keys to mailboxes.

Yep, happened here in Northern Virginia a few weeks ago. Guy rolled up on a postal carrier, pulled a knife, and demanded his keys.

Not good.

[RoadKingLarry]

Geez, next thing ya know they'll be telling us not to mail cash.
What is this world coming to?

[BobR]

Geez, next thing ya know they'll be telling us not to mail cash.
What is this world coming to?

well, that takes care of gifts to the kids. I already have them bamboozled when I send them checks and I can't do that anymore so I guess they are just SOL. :)

bob

[charby]

I saw an article the other day, and I wish I could find it, but there was sentence or two stating mail with checks was even being stolen in the mail sorting rooms by postal employees.

[Calumus]

I assume ballots will still be perfectly safe to mail though right?

[WLJ]

I assume ballots will still be perfectly safe to mail though right?

[Cliffh]

If you can't trust the U.S. gov, who can you trust?   

 

[HankB]

I've been dropping my mail off in the slot inside the post office for decades.

Years ago, guns had to be shipped by an FFL via USPS, with the label "FIREARM" in 1" red letters on the box.  I know of a case where a couple of Chicago area FFLs started shipping heavily insured scrap metal and bricks to one another, sure that the package would disappear when it reached the main Chicago sorting facility. USPS paid off readily, rather than challenge the claims, which of course would bring attention to the prevalent level of theft coming from their Chicago workforce.

[Bogie]

Thing is, the entitled folks who are likely doing this know that NOTHING will happen to them. That will not change until something DOES happen to them. And not just one isolated instance. It'll need a bunch.

[WLJ]

Thing is, the entitled folks who are likely doing this know that NOTHING will happen to them. That will not change until something DOES happen to them. And not just one isolated instance. It'll need a bunch.

They know if you try to stop them you'll be the one facing serious charges.

[MechAg94]

I saw an article the other day, and I wish I could find it, but there was sentence or two stating mail with checks was even being stolen in the mail sorting rooms by postal employees.

Which reminds of much older advice:  use the better class of envelopes that aren't see-through.  I also usually tape the envelopes closed with scotch tape.  Nothing is full proof but you can take a few extra steps so it isn't obvious.