For Leslie Nutt, a Cypress area resident, keeping track of her mail these days is now a full-time job.
“I had a couple of packages that were supposed to be delivered from Nordstrom that never arrived...Christmas gifts, “Nutt said.
Since May, Nutt said many of her neighbors in the Towne Lake area of Cypress have had their mail and packages stolen.
“We were informed through the post office that someone stole the master key and has been raiding our community mailbox,” Nutt said.
Four months ago, Adam Lucey had a number of packages stolen from his mailbox, and most recently, a credit card.
“I received a letter that it will be coming in a plain white envelope and it had been opened. So, sure enough, four days a later, I get a notice that someone had gone to Sam’s club and charged $1,400,” Lucey said.
According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, nearly 2,500 arrests were made for mail and package theft in 2018. Reports of mail theft soared by 600% over three years, from 25,000 in 2017 to 177,000 through August 2020.
“We’re looking for an actual rectification issue or someone changing the locks,” Nutt said.
Nutt said she contacted her local post office, the consumer affairs department, the postal inspector and the Towne Lake HOA.
She said although they have filed stolen mail claims, residents feel as though they are at a loss.
“All we are being told is we can have our mail held at the post office or we can have it redirected to our place of work or we just need to check our mail every day as soon as it’s delivered to beat the thieves,” Nutt said.
