SAN ANTONIO – If you’re missing letters or packages from your mailbox, it may not be a case of them being lost in the mail.
The US Postal Service has received reports in San Antonio and across the country about mail thefts involving counterfeit master keys, according to local Postmaster Michael Martinez-Partida, which he said is a federal crime.
Martinez-Partida was not able to offer exact numbers for this kind of theft but said they have been reported “occasionally.”
Posts of social media sites, such as NextDoor.com, however, show this is a popular subject among local homeowners.
Viviana Villalobos said the mailbox cluster in her brand new South Side neighborhood not far from Loop 410 and South Zarzamora Street has been targeted three times.
“Both of them were wide open,” she said, pointing to two sections of the cluster mailbox. “Sometimes all of them are open.”
Villalobos said on one occasion, she and her partner, Jose Berrelez, noticed a key protruding from the mailbox lock. They initially thought their letter carrier had left it behind accidentally.
“It was on a little key ring with a lanyard on it, so that’s what made me think they were in a hurry,” Berrelez said.
Another shared photos of the key on social media and with KSAT 12 News.
After reviewing the photos, Martinez-Partida said it appeared it, in fact, was counterfeit.
Another homeowner who lives in a community on the North Side near Loop 410 and Starcrest posted video to NextDoor.com on two different occasions.
It showed two different groups of people quickly gaining access to the cluster mailboxes, then helping themselves to what was inside.
Although the surveillance camera that captured their images did not show their hands, it appeared they also must have had a key.
“It’s real hurtful and it’s a violation of privacy,” Berrelez said, talking about the thefts. “It’s real selfishness.”
Thieves stole a package that Villalobos had waited for weeks to be delivered.
Now, she and Berrelez are no longer taking any chances.
They are having everything they order online shipped to a lockbox in a more secure and closely monitored location.
Martinez-Partida said the postal service is working to track down the criminals.
In the meantime, he suggested that mail customers protect themselves.
Among other things, he said it’s best to avoid letting mail pile up or leaving it in the mailbox overnight.
When sending outgoing mail, you should hand it to a letter carrier or drop it in a mailbox at your nearest post office, Martinez-Partida said.