Westchester DA Issues Alert For Mailbox Fishing

The Westchester County District Attorney and Yonkers Police Department are cautioning residents to be wary of a mailbox fishing scheme that involves suspects attempting to steal mail.

Officials are warning of a mailbox fishing scam.
Photo Credit: *Commons/Wikimedia*

Zak Failla

05/08/2018 8:15 p.m.

This week, Yonkers Police Sgt. Dean Politopoulos issued an alert on behalf of the department warning of mailbox fishing, which is when “unscrupulous individuals use a sticky substance or adhesive on a lead to pull mail out of a mailbox.”

In the alert, Yonkers police issued some common sense advice to help residents avoid becoming victims of the scam:

Consider transferring money via other methods;
Drop mail containing checks directly at the Post Office or hand it directly to your mail carrier;
If you use a mailbox, deposit the mail as close to the scheduled pick-up time as possible;
When writing a check use a pen with pigmented ink that cannot be erased;
If you see any suspicious activity around mailboxes, call the police.

Anyone who sees or suspects suspicious behavior can contact the Yonkers Police Department at (914) 377-6923.

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