Anonymous wrote:This thread is 5 days away from celebrating its 10th anniversary.

well clearly the problem still exists 10 whole years later

Not in DMV but we've had this issue here where mail is actually getting stolen from the post office boxes that are in the drive-thru section of the post office. Last time I went to mail something I could see that the mailbox was so full that the mail inside of it was starting to come out.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is 5 days away from celebrating its 10th anniversary.

True, it's a really old OP, but the advice just above re: checks and never using the blue, outdoor post boxes is absolutely accurate here in March, 2023. Huge problem. Postal carriers, who have keys to those blue boxes, have been assaulted by thieves to get the keys, in the past year or so. It's very much an issue today, despite the original thread being a decade old!

Never use the blue mailboxes, folks. Go INSIDE a post office to post your mail. There is always a letter slot inside the lobby.

This thread is 5 days away from celebrating its 10th anniversary.

I just got mail returned that I sent just before valentine’s day! Was returned to sender but took almost 3 weeks

In Bethesda we've had a rash of checks stolen from blue boxes and rewritten, so please monitor your accounts and file claims. I'm guessing Tenleytown is also on their beat...

Post office and mail delivery issues are why I never mail checks anymore. Not worth the risk.

You have to go inside the post office and mail items. Never from a blue post office box, even the ones right outside the post office.

There are well known organized crime rings that steal post office box keys and then break into them to steal mail. They're looking for checks that they can duplicate into dummy checks that they then rewrite to make huge amounts. It's happening in all of DC, Maryland and Virginia. The mail they can't use they just throw away. It's not like they remail it for you. So if your mail isn't lost, it is likely stolen.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/30/mailbox-stolen-checks-keys-arrest/

Did you drop it inside or outside at the blue mailboxes. Thieves are brazenly hitting the blue mailboxes and emptying them.!

Some thing I mailed in January has not reached its destination. It had a correct address and it had a return address so I don’t understand why I haven’t gotten it back. I only think that I may not have put quite enough postage on nevertheless, it should have either gone onto its address or in return to main.

Funny you should mention this. I just received a priority mail package, neatly sliced open, software contents gone. In its place, stuffed into my package envelope, was another neatly sliced open priority mail package addressed to someone who lives 2 miles away. Their contents were there - a child‘s nightgown.

Never had this happen until the Obama years. What changed? Hmmmmmmmmmmm