Some residents at the La Joya apartment complex in Corpus Christi are urged to watch for signs of identity theft after thieves got into the gated community and pried open locked mailboxes.
“Several mailboxes were found open this morning and some locks bent open,” an email from apartment manager Mary Stegall said. “Those residents have been notified.”
It’s unclear how many residents had their mail stolen, but the thieves may have also hit other complexes in the Oso Bay-area.
“We also received reports that other communities in the area have also had this happen,” the email continued. “Please make sure you are checking your mailbox daily.”
Corpus Christi Police have the same advice, and they also recommend proper timing when placing your outgoing mail in your box.
“The best advice I can give is to limit the amount of time your mail is in there,” CCPD Detective Marcus Garanzuay said. “If you know your postal carrier’s schedule, put it in there an hour, maybe 30 minutes in advance just to leave the smallest window of opportunity for the criminals.”
If you need to mail extremely sensitive personal information, you might try the advice of Alyssa Olguin who was visiting Corpus Christi from Victoria Thursday.
“As far as my mail, I usually like to take it to the post office, because we’ve had some stuff not get to where it needs to be,” Olguin said.
If you think you may be a victim of identity theft there’s lots of information on the Federal Trade Commission’s website. You can access it by clicking here.
