Valley crooks find new way to steal mail

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's something we all take for granted, but Clovis Police say the next time you drop off letters at your neighborhood mailbox, you might want to take a closer look.

"We were notified by the United States Postal Service that somebody had put some type of adhesive substance to the top of the outgoing mail slot," said Clovis Police Sgt. Jim Munro.

Law enforcement believes crooks put the sticky substance there so they could stop the outgoing mail from making it all of the way through the slot and come back later to retrieve the letters.

At last count close to two dozen mailboxes in Clovis were hit.

"We obviously don't have the resources to check every single mailbox but what we did do was send a notification on the Next Door social media platform to all the residents in Clovis to let them know this is a potential problem," said Sgt. Munro.

Homeowners like Alycia Woodbury were surprised to hear this type of crime was happening in her neighborhood.

"I'm shocked and concerned. I hope my mail got out ok when I was sending out bills and graduation announcements the other week. It's something I never would've thought of."

So how can residents protect themselves from falling victim?

Sgt. Munro has a couple of tips, "Make sure the mail is fully inserted into the slot so it will get actually get into the slot. If you need to, feel around and make sure it has fallen down into the slot. Also check your mail daily."

You can also protect your incoming mail by signing up on the US Postal Service's Informed Delivery service. It emails an image of each letter expected to arrive in your mailbox. That way you can compare the images with the mail you recieve.

LINK: Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery

Meanwhile, Clovis Police say they will continue to investigate the crime.