Don't let thieves get their mitts on your mail

Q: I mailed a credit-card bill a few weeks ago. Someone apparently stole it from my mailbox, then made several major purchases and tapped my checking account. What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

A: (Attorney General Rob McKenna) Stealing mail ranked fifth among the most common methods for perpetrating identity fraud in a 2005 study by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research. The most widespread methods involve a thief stealing a wallet or checkbook. Rifling through trash cans for personal information is another common tactic used by identity thieves.

Here's what you should do to protect yourself:

• Consider purchasing a locking mailbox. Never leave outgoing mail in an unsecured mailbox; take it to a collection box or post office instead.

• Promptly remove delivered mail. Call the U.S. Postal Service at 800-275-8777 to request a vacation hold.

• Buy a shredder, preferably one that "cross cuts" (slices in two directions), and destroy all charge receipts, insurance forms, physician bills, bank and credit card statements, checks and credit offers. Also destroy all junk mail and paperwork that includes your name, address, phone number, e-mail address or signature. (A comprehensive list of items to shred can be found at www.atg.wa.gov/consumer/idprivacy/priv_shred.shtml.

• If your shredder can't handle plastic, cut up expired credit and ID cards with scissors before discarding them.

• Remove your name from mailing lists for pre-approved credit cards that often come with blank checks. Call 888-5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688) or make a request online at www.optoutprescreen.com.

• Contact the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group of telephone and mail marketers, to remove your name from national contact lists. Write to: Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9008 or make a request online at www.dmaconsumers.org. There's a $5 fee for making your request online, but no charge for registering by mail.

Finally, always report mail theft or an unauthorized change of address immediately to your local postmaster or nearest postal inspector, or file a complaint online at www.usps.com/postalinspectors.

To suggest a future topic for this column, send an e-mail to asktheag@atg.wa.gov or write to "Ask the AG", Attorney General's Office, 900 4th Ave. Suite 2000, Seattle, WA 98164-1012.