In the past couple weeks, The Milpitas Post Office has put up signage near its postal boxes warning users not to drop off mail after the final 5pm pickup time.
The Beat spoke with the location’s supervisor, Michael Baker, about the recent notice. Baker explained that such signage had not been posted in a long time…
“We have had theft in the area of Milpitas as well as other areas and there was an advisory from the Postal Inspection Services,” Baker shared.
Nearby post offices, namely in San Jose, have security personnel patrolling their sites. When they see theft occurring, they put the word out to all neighboring post offices. In this case, Milpitas’s own post office was being targeted, as well. Baker estimates that their blue postal boxes have been robbed around three times recently.
The criminals attach sticky tape to pole-like objects then go fishing in the boxes. What are they looking for? “It could be checks. Personal information,” Baker explained, saying that identity theft is “the hottest thing.”
“We found a couple pieces of envelopes that were slightly torn or they had some sticky residue on them,” Baker added.Â
Said Baker about the recently posted advisement, “It ensures that we will collect the mail. Because if it’s before 5pm, it will get collected and it won’t be sitting for hours.”
