VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators said a group of thieves is targeting mail boxes at a time when most people are expecting holiday gifts and packages.
Investigators said it’s happened all over central Florida, including multiple cities around Volusia County.
A Daytona Beach man said the thieves stole the checks she was mailing to pay her bills.
When Nick Morris puts letters in the mail, he now sits and watches his mail box through the window of his Daytona Beach home.
He knows the frustration of stolen postage firsthand.
“It’s like somebody coming in your home,” Morris said. “I had to go to the bank, had all the accounts changed.”
Several of Morris’ neighbors in Fairway Estate have also had their mail stolen.
Police said it’s happening in beachside neighborhoods and in other cities like Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and Daytona Beach Shores.
“Either they don’t have anything or they’re just playing criminals, and you know, just want to do it to be doing it to try to get money,” said victim Peggy Taulbee.
Taulbee said a suspect cashed a check stolen from her mail box as well.
She had to change all of her checking accounts.
Police believe the suspects could be working together.
They said the thieves are difficult to catch, because they steal the mail in one city, then go to another jurisdiction to commit check fraud.
Sometimes the victims won’t notice it for two or three weeks when they receive notices for late payments.
According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a person can be charges with criminal possession of stolen property and other federal charges.
Daytona Beach police said they are in contact with federal authorities.
WFTV
