Electronic Payments Urged By Chevy Chase Police Due To Mail Thefts

CHEVY CHASE, MD — The Chevy Chase Village Police Department is recommending residents make payments electronically rather than mailing checks through the U.S. Postal Service due to ongoing theft of mail in the area.

Thieves in suburban Maryland have stolen mailbox keys and used those keys to steal mail from blue mail boxes in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, according to Chevy Chase Village Police. The thieves then find checks within the mail and forge their names, sometimes for thousands of dollars.

A local resident reported to the police that she recently mailed a check inside the lobby of the post office in Chevy Chase and that the check was stolen and forged.

The Chevy Chase Village Police Department said Wednesday that it has been in contact with the United States Postal Inspection Service, which is investigating the thefts.

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Due to the report of mail stolen after it was deposited inside a post office, the Postal Service Inspector General’s Office will be investigating that incident, too, police said.

Chevy Chase Village Police have asked the postmaster to temporarily remove “compromised blue mail boxes from the Village until the USPS finds a way to make them secure again.”

“Once they solve the problem, they will replace the blue boxes for the convenience of patrons,” police said.

The Chevy Chase Village Police Department, together with the USPIS, is recommending that residents follow these suggestions to avoid being a victim of mail theft:

• Make electronic payments rather than mailing checks; write as few checks as possible.
• Do not place outgoing mail in USPS mailboxes or in your private mailbox or mail slot.
• Take outgoing mail to the post office and drop it through the slot inside the lobby.
• Ask your bank for ‘secure’ checks that are more difficult to alter.
• Use fraud-resistant pens to write any check that you must issue.

Residents can report stolen mail by calling 877-876-2455.