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MIAMI LAKES (CBSMiami) – CBS4 has obtained exclusive Ring camera video after a mail thief has been targeting a neighborhood in Miami Lakes.
Rick Barrera told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench that the Ring camera video from his home near NW 87 Avenue and 139 Terrace shows a disturbing image at 4:38 a.m. Thursday in which someone in a car stops at his mailbox and takes items from it and then that same car is seen stopping at another home nearby.
Barrera said, “This violates our privacy. A lot of mail has important information this time of year like our W2s that are coming out and this affects us and at the end of the day it is all about our credit. It is horrible it is the world we are living in today.”
Barrera also showed CBS4 Ring camera video from two years ago in which another thief targeted his mailbox.
”Two years ago they stole my mail and an IRS check from the government for $3,000 and I never recovered that money.”
Katelin Sarria said her mail had been left overnight in her mail box and when she woke up it was gone.
“We opened the mailbox and nothing was there,” she said. “I was expecting a check and other items. This is really an invasion of privacy. You expect you mail to be secure and it’s not when you return. I urge people to be hyper vigilant and take in their mail at night.”
She said she filed a report with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and says they will be looking in to this case.
If you think you have been victimized, you can file a report by going to www.uspis.gov.
Luis Parra said he’s also been victimized before.
”We have been getting hijacked,” he said. “Our mailbox are getting hijacked. From my mail box they stole my credit card and used it in Georgia. They are looking for credit cards and robbing your information and looking for anything where they can get money.”
Bryan Masmela, a postal inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, says such crimes often increase during the holidays but not usually after the holidays.
He has some advice for everyone.
”What we recommend is get your mail as soon as possible when it is there. If you come home from work, get it right away. You could invest in a locked mailbox. Just simply getting a locked mailbox can deter a lot of mail thieves. If you are not going to be home for a couple of days, you can request that your mail be held with the postal office until you return or ask a neighbor to pick it up.”
Barrera said he went to usps.com to get a special app that lets him know what mail is headed his way.
“Basically, they send you an email notification from the U.S. Postal Service letting you know exactly what mail you will be getting. They basically scan you mail to let you know what you will be getting.”
Masmela referred to that as “informed delivery.”
Sarria said, “Be hyper vigilant. Make sure you take in your mail at night.”