Identity theft prevention and your mailbox is a serious consideration because mail, through the mailbox, not the electronic stuff, still exists…and makes you extremely vulnerable to identity theft. Over 200 billion pieces of mail are delivered in the US each month with each of those pieces of mail offering a chance for identity theft…over 200 billion chances. Chance presents opportunity for criminals and the information contained within your mail can be very tempting to them.

A study from 2007 revealed that the mailbox is the most risky point, outside technology, for gaining access to a person’s identity which is precisely why any plan for identity theft prevention must take into account your own mailbox. The US study, which assessed during 2000–2006 those closed Secret Service cases that had shown there to be elements of identity theft or fraud, revealed that mail ‘redirection’ and actual mail ‘theft’ were at the top of the list, disregarding technological means of identity theft.

Unless you are expecting mail, you don’t notice its non-delivery. What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t yearn for. Most of us are pleased when our mailbox is pretty empty, no having to sort through pamphlets, leaflets and paper ‘junk’ or bills in the hope of finding a piece of meaningful and welcome correspondence. Redirection or re-routing mail was the number one method, outside technology, threatening the possibility of ID theft. Who would want to steal your address, how would they do it and what would they gain from it? Anybody could do it, there are many ways it can be done and it can be very lucrative. To change an address (for rerouting purposes) is no big deal. Completion of an online form or card from the post office is all that is required.

Identity thieves need to collect addresses to fully profit from their criminal effort. This can be done by raiding your garbage can for any paperwork containing your address, matching it to your residence with a drive by, making easy enquiries of neighbors for a bogus errand and/or checking the phone book to match up the collected information. They might lift mail directly from your mailbox – honestly, they’re brazen; they’ve got a nerve and know no shame. A little shuffle, a little poke; perhaps a pretence at delivering something and within minutes they could have the details of your life in their hands. Fortunately, this can all be avoided by including the protection of your mailbox in your identity theft prevention plan.