More North Texans express concern about overstuffed USPS collection boxes
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Earlier this week, CBS 11 exposed what seems to be an invitation for mail theft all over North Texas and believe it or not, the United States Postal Service is responsible.
Since then, we have received a lot more complaints about overstuffed collection boxes that put your check in the mail at risk.
Sharon Stark took these photos two weeks ago, when she went to her nearby post office branch in Frisco to mail a check.
"I have a couple of things that I cannot pay online so I don't have a choice, I have to mail a check," Stark said.
The sight of letters sticking out of the collection box outside the branch on Stonebrook Parkway made her more than a little uneasy.
"I thought, well I'll come back the next day, so I went back on Tuesday it was the same they had not emptied them. They were still stuffed," Stark said. "It was obvious that people could just easily grab the mail and take it so I didn't mail what I had to mail there."
Stark is just one of several people who contacted us after we interviewed a Plano resident who had two checks stolen that he dropped into an overstuffed collection box on Coit Road.
We received photos and similar complaints about collection boxes in Denton and Rowlett.
Stark has printouts of complaints she tried to file online but... "it wouldn't go into their system."
Ironically, the USPS posted a warning in September to customers to be careful because of the growing crime of check washing.
Mail thieves look for checks to chemically erase and rewrite who they are made out to before fraudulently cashing them.
It's a crime that's doubled in five years according to Bank Info Security and expected to exceed $24 billion this year.
So why wouldn't the postal service be more diligent about emptying the boxes?
Part of the problem, according to USPS officials, is the ongoing labor shortage as well as people putting too many large packages inside the collection boxes.
The USPS said in a statement to CBS 11:
"...we often find items deposited in collection boxes that should more properly be mailed inside at our lobby drop box. We apologize to any customer who has experienced issues with full collection boxes, and we will take steps to enhance our focus on ensuring collection boxes remain safe and secure."
USPS says it will forward the photos we receive from viewers to the management of the DFW branches where this is happening and where Sharon Stark would like to continue dropping off her mail.
