FORT MILL, S.C. — The United States Postal Service office in Fort Mill has become a target of regular and repeated thefts, according to detectives there.
Police said they’ve been investigating the thefts with the help of USPS inspectors.
Authorities asked anyone who wants to mail their items there to consider only dropping off mail inside the post office, because the thieves have been targeting the blue mailboxes outside.
“I’m taking this in here and depositing it in the inside,” resident Barbara Melton said.
She is not going to take the chance of using an outside mailbox.
“Certain times of the day, they’re overfilled, and you could easily reach in there and grab some mail,” Melton said.
That’s not the only way thieves can get into the drop-off boxes.
In July, the police said a man, who has been charged, used a stolen U.S. Postal Service master key to get into the boxes.
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Officials said similar thefts have continued and are happening regularly.
They said thieves are stealing valuables and checks.
“Those checks are being intercepted and then re-written to people not represented on checks,” said Capt. Steven Bivins, with the Fort Mill Police Department. “They’re changing the amounts.”
Bivins said police have increased patrols and they are warning people to take their mail inside for now.
Melton hopes the area’s most vulnerable residents will follow that advice.
“The older people are still mailing,” Melton said. “They’re not paying by credit cards and everything like that. So, it is the older people that they’re taking advantage of.”
Fort Mill police said there were nearly 40 incident reports involving this type of theft last year.
(WATCH BELOW: Push to protect mail carriers grows after workers attacked on their routes)
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