Mail Fishing Prompts Warning To Avoid Old-Style Boxes In Bayside

BAYSIDE, QUEENS – A spate of mail fishing in Bayside and Douglaston has prompted police to warn people not to use old-style mailboxes.

The NYPD's 111 Precinct, which covers the communities along with Little Neck, Auburndale, Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows, warned that thieves have targeted several boxes over the past weekend, including the ones at:

-48th & Bell Blvd
-53rd & Springfield
-216th Street and 48 Ave
-West End Dr. & Little Neck Parkway

Customers are being told to avoid mailboxes that have swinging doors with a handle. Instead, they should find new-style boxes that have slots.

Mail fishing usually involves thieves covering a tool with a sticky substance and using it to pluck checks, bank documents and birthday cards from collection boxes. Perps then often "wash" the checks with acetone to erase the ink and put in their own information, police said.

Lead image via NYPD