Renters Beware! Mail Box Raiders Seek Your Identity!

The kind of mail boxyou will find at an apartment building – be it a large 400 unit complex or simply a smaller bungalow property – is usually a generic commercial receptacle. It has no frills and although more often than not it actually locks, these locks cannot be considered security locks by a long shot. Anyone with a crudely made passkey or even a hairpin stands a good chance of getting into your mail. Renters beware!

Even as landlords and management companies entrusted with the purchase of a mail receptacle approved by the United States post office will try to keep things safe, cheap mail box raiders seek your identity. Depending how cheap your landlord is, they may find it. There are essentially two routes you can take at this juncture to safeguard your personal information.

First and foremost, consider contacting the building owner and lobby for the purchase of a secure, commercial mail box or even individual mail boxes to which only the tenant has a key. Granted the expense is higher. But, if you can get enough tenants to get together and appeal to the building owner, you may have some success.

Barring that, you may need to consider getting a post office box and keeping your mail and identity safe at the post office. Although it is a bit of an inconvenience to pick up the mail from there, the inconvenience you save yourself by not having to dispute fraudulent charges is huge!