Oklahoma woman says someone stole her mail from U.S. Postal Office with three checks inside
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - An Oklahoma woman claims someone stole her mail that included three written checks to pay bills. It happened at the United States Post Office on Hefner and Penn in Oklahoma City.
“It had been ripped open and there was no check,” Mary Frantz, had mail stolen.
Mary Frantz told KFOR her husband dropped off the mail with checks inside at an outdoor U.S. Postal Office drive-thru mailbox. Shortly after someone miles away notified her that she found the envelope opened, with no checks inside, sitting on her front lawn.
“They now can wipe it up, whitewash them and clear out information on the checks. But I hear now, too, what they're doing is there's 3D printers that are so good, they're making your checks because they've got all your micro information, so they're making new checks. So that's concerning,” said Frantz.
Frantz said she called the U.S. Postal Service to let them know. They told her they had a break in.
“This one was brute force... All I know is they fixed the boxes, but it doesn't look any different. I mean, I would just recommend people do not use the drop boxes unless it's a week, or day before the drop box pick up times,” said Frantz.
Mail theft of any kind is a federal crime and carries a hefty penalty.
“If you steal mail, whether it's from a mailbox, off somebody's porch, out of somebody's car, it is a federal felony that carries up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine,” said Ed Blau, legal expert.
If you steal more than one piece of mail, penalties can snowball.
“If somebody has stolen mail, depending on when they stole it and how much there is, he or she could face multiple counts of possession of stolen mail, each of which carries up to five years. So, if you're an individual who has done this quite a bit and gets caught a lot, the punishment that you could theoretically face could be ten, 20, 30 years in prison,” said Blau.
Mary Frantz was able to call her bank to stop payment on the check from going through. She’s now watching her bank account closely too.
“Now I have alerts all over my bank account. So, anything that goes through, I can check, see if it's legitimate,” said Frantz.
Mary Frantz and her husband will be taking the mail inside the Post Office from here on out.