Full Notification

MAILBOX THIEVES TARGETING SANTA FE AREA

Sheriff detectives urge residents to collect mail daily and to report suspicious activity

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s criminal investigators are looking into various incidents of mail theft in Santa Fe County. According to detectives, criminals have targeted residents in the Rancho Viejo, Aldea and Camino la Tierra areas and are stealing mail from mailboxes.

The thieves have focused their criminal activity on locked mailbox cluster units, which afford them multiple mailboxes in a centralized place to steal from. These criminals are looking for specific mail to steal. They are interested in documents – like checking/savings account statements and mortgage and credit card bills that will provide the thieves with personal information, including social security numbers, account numbers and addresses associated with those accounts. These individuals are identity thieves. They take the victim’s stolen information and open fraudulent accounts in the victim’s name or use the information to illegally access bank and savings accounts.

Sheriff’s detectives recommend that residents, who get mail delivery at home, or at a centralized mailbox cluster station, collect their mail on a daily basis to minimize the possibility of having their mail stolen. Sheriff’s detectives are in communication with the United States Postal Service regarding recent mailbox break-ins.

If anyone has had their mail stolen, their mailbox broken into or witnessed suspicious activity, they are encouraged to immediately call (505) 428-3720 to notify law enforcement. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office also encourages residents to establish a Neighborhood Watch group in their neighborhood if one does not exist.