Card Thefts

[Stampsfan]

Really sorry to hear all this. And I'm not looking to hijack the thread.


I'm sitting here in Canada, reading this, and thinking "The USPS picks up outgoing mail from your home?"

We can barely get Canada Post to bring our mail to our door anymore. Most mail is dropped in a multi-box on a corner, and you have to go get it.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Really sorry to hear all this. And I'm not looking to hijack the thread.


I'm sitting here in Canada, reading this, and thinking "The USPS picks up outgoing mail from your home?"

We can barely get Canada Post to bring our mail to our door anymore. Most mail is dropped in a multi-box on a corner, and you have to go get it.

Thanks. This is a very minor thing.

You can put in an online request for mail pick-up and they will knock on your door - it's great. I don't do it because I would have to have the items packed and ready to ship the night before, and I tend to package things at the last minute. But I used that service in Georgia, as the mailman did not come to our apartment door.

The USPS service in Tacoma is the greatest I've experienced. My mailman comes by first thing in the morning to drop off packages, then in the afternoon for everything else. He hides packages (so well that once it took me almost a week to find one!) and made several great suggestions regarding future package pick-up: leave outgoing mail in the milk box, stick it inside my screen door, leave it inside (hidden) the mailbox, or put in an online request the evening before to have packages picked up - then I can leave them inside the house until he arrives and he will ring the bell. The prior mailman knew that I had a lot of outgoing mail, so he always honked twice when he arrived, so that I could hear him if I was working in the garden. You can also get a red flag for your box.

Great guys (and gals) all around.

[ALR-bishop]

I would worry as much about the stolen check , even if not cashed and you stopped payment. I never use my mailbox anymore to pay bills after a similar theft. They got 3 checks, washed them and wrote them for other amounts to other people. Then they created new checks. I had to terminate the account and open another. A hassle. Then they used my info on the checks to create other fake checks on other fake accounts. As a result I got contacts from angry vendors who had my name and info from the fake checks, and contacts from police looking into complaints about bad checks. Fortunately the bank returned almost all the money, but it was a mess for awhile. None of my outgoing mail now goes in my mailbox

[bnorth]

Sorry for your loss Scott, usually retaliation gets you in trouble.

Last Monday I got back at someone that stole from me about 3 years ago.

I play in a Monday night golf league. One of the guys we played against was complaining about an employee. Said he was asking for overtime constantly but couldn't even show up for work all the time. When I heard his name I said that POS stole from me and told him the story. He then got on his phone called another employee and asked if he could go to work and fill in. Then called the guy that stole from me and fired him on the spot while on speaker phone for all to hear.

[JustinD]

I have been pricing camera setups for my front door that I can access from my phone or computer. I have never had anything taken, but it is not unheard of around here.

I understand the want for revenge though. I would have a hard time not leaving out a box with a the biggest pet store tarantula in packing peanuts I could find, lol.

[brass_rat]

I would recommend something like the Google Nest Cam:

https://nest.com/camera/meet-nest-cam/

There are a lot of devices like it, so you have choices. This one in particular can do things like automatically store video and audio based off motion and/or sound and only alert you if you are not home (your choice...you can link it to your phone for location services).

The nice thing about this one is that it stores directly to the cloud, so if someone breaks into your home, they can't remove the memory stick to take the evidence like they could with some devices.

A subscription for cloud storage is $100/year...perhaps worth the cost if you think it might help in theft recovery, but that's up to the individual to decide.

You can buy a three-pack of cameras of you want to focus on various locations.

It's easy setup...less than 10 minutes.

Cheers,
Steve

[scotgreb]

I would recommend something like the Google Nest Cam:

https://nest.com/camera/meet-nest-cam/

There are a lot of devices like it, so you have choices. This one in particular can do things like automatically store video and audio based off motion and/or sound and only alert you if you are not home (your choice...you can link it to your phone for location services).

The nice thing about this one is that it stores directly to the cloud, so if someone breaks into your home, they can't remove the memory stick to take the evidence like they could with some devices.

A subscription for cloud storage is $100/year...perhaps worth the cost if you think it might help in theft recovery, but that's up to the individual to decide.

You can buy a three-pack of cameras of you want to focus on various locations.

It's easy setup...less than 10 minutes.

Cheers,
Steve

What Steve said . . .

The technology has gotten pretty good and the setup and ongoing costs are very reasonable. They can be used indoors and outdoors. You could even point one directly at your mailbox. It provides particular peace of mind when I'm away. Not only do they record all motion but individual cameras can be coded to send an email immediately upon detecting (recording) motion -- and you can play it back immediately from your phone. I use Foscam and the monthly cost is less than $10.

Scott