Lower Greenville residents concerned mailbox thief has community mail key

DALLAS - A string of mail robberies at a Lower Greenville condo has residents concerned the thief has the master mail key to the complex.

Lower Greenville mailbox thief

What we know:

Lower Greenville residents are looking for a person who has been stealing from their community mailboxes.

The suspect has been caught on video multiple times this month. He's seen opening multiple mailboxes, something that can only be done with the mailbox's master key, and stealing mail.

What they're saying:

Resident Taylor Shaw says the thief has targeted multiple mailboxes across Lower Greenville.

"So for a little over a month, we've had somebody with a master key that's been opening up and stealing mail from not only our box, but also boxes all over Lindell, Hudson, Live Oak, Bryan; it's been this whole area that has been under attack by this person," Shaw told FOX 4's Shaun Rabb.

"He just enters it right here, and that basically pops open the box. At that point, he can just look through every single mail slot unencumbered, no issue, and rifle through all of our letters, small packages, whatever's in there," Shaw continued. "Unfortunately, we've had people lose iPhones, credit cards, all sorts of valuables."

"I want USPS to rekey all the boxes in this area. They need to do that and do it soon," Shaw said of what needs to be done about the thievery.

Protecting your mail

What you can do:

Postal inspector Sean Smith explained to Rabb that inspectors investigate mail crimes, but service, equipment, and function of keys and mailboxes is the U.S. Postal Service's responsibility.

Smith suggested affected residents keep track of what they do and don't receive through the USPS website. He says it's free, and you will get an email each morning with pictures of the mail set to be delivered to your box that day.

"Make sure that you empty your mailbox daily. If there's no mail in there, there's nothing for thieves to target," Smith told Rabb. "One other thing we ask is if you're going to be on vacation, a mail hold is free to, on to USPS.com, put in. Make sure that the mail isn't delivered and sitting in your mailbox as a target for other mail thieves."