Mail going missing - Your advice for this my situation?

Set up a trip wire, so when the culprit opens the mailbox, they have a massive cage fall around them, catching them. Then you will find out who has been sneaking around in your letters.
 
We have a mailbox as well and yeah... i can get my hand inside it and take stuff out and parents dont seem to bother about me been able to do it / any one else could also
 
Thanks for all the replies (even the not-so-serious ones provided a laugh!)...

The only update for the moment is, after speaking to Royal Mail, they are going to get photocopy all of my letters (envelope). Apparently, before the post lady can begin her round she'll have to present all of the letters for our address to her line manager who will take the photocopy and sign them off. Until this, she can not deliver them.

This should at least give me an idea if the letters are going missing within the Royal Mail system or from the mailbox itself.
 
Try putting a mouse trap taped to the roof of the post box, so that if a hand goes in from the postie side it will trap there fingers but if letters go in it should not set off.
 
I was the victim of quite a bit of fraud on most of my credit cards as well as a brand spanking new credit card which I had not even received yet. When I actually received the card I had £3000 of debt on it, which puzzled me no end. A few weeks later there was a notice in the hall of my building where the post boxes are (also behind a door with a keyfob entry system) from the Police notifying residents that post had been stolen and people were finding themselves victims of fraud.

Apparently what was happening was if you lift the flap up on the post boxes and peer inside there is a metal stamp identifying the maker of the post box and a serial number. The thieves were then getting keys made from this information and stealing post and using that to commit identity theft and credit card fraud.

I would be checking my credit profile if I were you. You may be the owner of a new house and not even know it...
 
I set up the photocopy system with Royal Mail on Wednesday night. I've still not received mail since but I'll go going down to the sorting office tomorrow (Saturday) to check if that is because no mail has arrived or to see if it has been taken from the mailbox.

The post lady puts the mail into the mailbox. I do occasionally receive mail addressed to the landlady, which I store and forward on in a batch, monthly.

The possibility of an individual getting a key cut is an interesting one I'll check later today. There is certainly a sticky note containing the company who fitted the locks phone number and a series of key codes. I have only noticed this when opening the mailbox door to collect mail. I shall see if it is possible to view this with through the mail flap later this evening.

If I do opt for a new lock, something I am becoming keen on (though I do think I'll give Royal Mails system a chance first, to at least highlight if the issue is with the mailbox and not their system), can replacement locks (with associated keys) be purchased off the high street? If so, from where and what sort of cost? If it is easy and cheap I think I'll do it without informing the land lady initially. I can then, when the issue is understood further, inform the land lady of what I have done. When we leave I can give her the option of keeping the new lock or installing the old one for her.

Failing them being easy to purchase and fit, I may call the company that installed the current lock and ask for a quote on that. If it is not too expensive I could just ask for them to refit it, but *not* fit a key code sticker in the mailbox (or at least fit it so low it is not viewable through the flap).

I'll check that tonight and report back. Any comments on how much locks cost, where to purchase and how to fit would be useful.

Thanks!
 
Draw a penis on a piece of paper, turn it over, and write 'PTO' on that side.

Leave that in your mailbox

Look out for anyone who is raging a bit more than normal, this is your thief
 
ubern00b said:
Apparently what was happening was if you lift the flap up on the post boxes and peer inside there is a metal stamp identifying the maker of the post box and a serial number. The thieves were then getting keys made from this information and stealing post and using that to commit identity theft and credit card fraud.
Click to expand...

Bingo, or at least potentially! The sticker containing the maker of the mail box and a serial number is visable through the mail flap. Indeed, the same is true of every single mail box there. I've just got off of the phone to the company whose name was on the sticker and they said that there was "no way" somebody could get a key cut with only that information, unless they bought a £1600 machine. Now I did not want to push her further as I was already in a pretty angry mood after noticing this and did not think it would help anything furthering up this question.

Clearly, with the serial number *somebody* can cut a replacement key *somewhere*. My question is, can I (or anybody!) go to *any* locksmith with the lock model and the key serial number and get it cut? If so, it seems the lady I spoke to was misleading me.

Either way, she has said they can post a replacement lock for £15 (new cam and two keys) which seems very reasonable. I will probably do this anyway, due to the low cost, however in reality is this likely to help? Essentially, is it possible for somebody to have got a new key cut (and hence that lock is now vulnerable) solely from the information stated above?

I assume if this is how my mail is going missing then many others would also be vulnerable in our block of flats. Clearly I have no more mail (or more important mail) than anybody else and all mailboxes have the serial number clearly viewable, so I'd assume if this is the way mail is going missing it is clearly quite organised.
 
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