USPS - thefts
Exbrit
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There seems to be quite a bit of theft within the postal service. I rarely hear about arrests. One of the reasons - registered mail, although slow, seems the wat to ship. Much smaller pool to trace.
Has thefts gone up or down in recent years - in your opinion?
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Not sure where you are getting your information that there is "quite a bit of theft within the postal service"? The fact that they handle and deliver over 400 million pieces of mail every day, I would posit that there is actually very little theft.
I get a lot of notices on thefts I have posted on. For a parcel to be stolen the thief is looking for something that will be profitable, and easy to fence. Opportunities are abundant. I was at a lightly managed coin store at one point where a monster box of silver eagles was left by Ups in a place that would have been easy to steal. Every delivery service messes up but with the current rules I'm seeing more.
as with anything in the real world crooks are present and are looking for a easy score and they find the mail pretty easy pickings cause people just ship with little or no thought to what could happen to their packages within the mail system
as for me i always say once in the Post office hands it's not my issue anymore cause i have no control over the mail system all i can do is give a tracking number and that is it
and since i've used the USPS system to mail packages since 2003 and not one has been gotten i'm seeing that crooks pick select packages to snag anything that stands out is a target but anything that looks common they will not bother it
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The only time a had a theft was during Christmas season, when they hire temporaries. Don't send anything of value in a Christmas card!
We always remember the bad things and a lot of times we forget the good things.
IMO, there is much more good done by many but we let the good go unnoticed because we take it for granted.
Theft is theft. No matter what we do or what preventative measures we take, there will be those who have no qualms about stealing or circumventing the system.
Coins that are recovered have a path that we need to trace and when the thieves are found, prosecute them to the fullest.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
I'm talking about how often they occur not the percentage of thefts compared to the total number of mailings. One a day is too much. One a week is too much. But that is the same with any crime. Looking at the percentage of thefts per total mailings would be a very small percentage. I'm wondering if the overall trend is up or down. I'd like to see a subset of the totals that is collected by NCIC or the total number of thefts reported to the postal inspectors. Then compare those number to the known thefts from registered mail. My point is registered mail is much safer.
In spite of the perception here, theft in the Post Office is very rare.
USPS is awesome, eBay is Awesome, Paypal is Awesome, Bitcoin is Awesome
IMO and experience, Priority Signature is way safer than Restigered Insured
during last fiscal year had 333 arrests for USPS internal theft
https://uspsoig.gov/investigations/internal-mail-theft
I would like to ship some coins to PCGS but I am very reluctant to do so now.
Theft is possibly up, but probably not a ton. Mistakes, delays, wrong turns, and packages going missing have increased enormously lately, with COVID used as a convenient excuse.
That's good to hear. Out of how many reported?
I do not believe theft is common at all at the post office.
I believe that most of the mail that disappears is because of human error or incompetence, such as delivering to a wrong address.
I am sure that the people who work at the post office undergo a background check. And, most will not risk their job or pensions by stealing.
JMHO.
The chance you'd have a problem is very small. Send it registered (if high valued), or priority with signature and insured and you'll be alright.
there is undoubtably more mail lost or misdelivered than lost due to theft. 333 arrests is nothing to sneeze at - and that is just a fraction of the total.
600,000 employees, 333 bad apples, equates to about .05% of their workforce.
Like I said the percentage is small. 333 is the number arrested - there are many more unsolved thefts.
Any large organization with such a huge number of employees, will always have some degree of corruption.
Very true -- but is this really okay? The goal is to drive the numbers down through better security, not to accept it as the norm. The number of unsolved cases along with those that were never reported brings the percentages higher. You are correct that every organization has its bad actors, even those that have good screening of their employees and prospective employees.
333 is an extremely small number.
Any business should be happy to only have half an employee be bad out of 1000.
That number (333) are the ones that were caught. How many others haven't been? How many thefts have not been reported? The actual figures are much higher - I'm sure.
Still a fairly low number compares to the whole.
I worked at the PO for 33 years and I can tell you if you steal you will be caught. It's a rare occurrence that anything is stolen. In the 25 years I worked on the floor I only heard of three incidents of theft. There are cameras everywhere keeping an eye on things and very few ever get away with theft.
That's good to hear. I have great respect for the postal service. It just seems there has been an uptick in thefts.
I haven't had a package go missing in more than 20 years. Beware of online badmouthing of the USPS by individuals with ulterior motives.
What Ulterior motives would these be? Just commenting that thefts seem to be on an increase, although relatively small and that registered mail is a safe way to send (for high value items). As I just mentioned above - I have great respect for the postal service. That has nothing to do with ulterior motives - just an observation that there seems to be an uptick recently.
I am not sure if there has been an uptick in thefts, but am sure there has been an uptick in shipping delays. I am not sure if it is related to covid, weather, volume, or lower staffing. Some items just seem to stop for a couple weeks before continuing, others get misrouted in the wrong direction.
I heard a few years ago that the majority of theft problems were not full time employees, but seasonal contractors.
There have been individuals that want to privatize the USPS and are just waiting to step in and make themselves instant multibillionaires. This isn't new. There was a move in this direction that failed back in the 1980's.
I would imagine prices would go up unless it was completely automated. Once upon a time the postal sevrvice delivered twice a day (morning and evening). But that was in the city some time ago.
If privatized many delivery points that are not profitable would be out of luck. If you live in a low density rural location private companies would not deliver to you.
Theft is a risk, and though the USPS has a very low theft rate, it does happen. If you are afraid of postal theft, try shipping with the following:
1) Do not use usps insurance. This is a giant "steal me" sign. If you must insure, use a private third party company. The carriers will never know the package is insured.
2) Do not use key words like "coins" or "numismatic" anywhere on the exterior.
3) Don't let your coins jangle together. Silver in particular makes a distinct tone.
4) Related to #1, don't over pay for a premium service. First class with signature will get there just fine. You don't need certified and it does you no favors, it just attracts attention. For very high value packages, you can spring for registered, but keep in mind how much that will cost you. A lot of times insuring first class is cheaper.
5) DO use tracking and signature required services when the coins are worth it. They are cheap and often required for third part insurance. 6 bucks gets you tracking with signature confirmation. I saved a coin from the wrong address with this service.
6) Have a secure delivery area. Whether that be a secure box outside your home or a PO box.
7) Drop off at a postal office in their delivery slot if possible. More secure and there will be a video record for the postal inspector to examine, if necessary.
I know some of this advice is obvious to many here, but I feel the need to put it out there again.
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Never had a problem with any of the major carriers but there’s always a first time so I’m careful. I just had two paintings delivered Fed-ex insured for $10K and went off without a hitch. A couple of hundred extra was cheap insurance.
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There are a lot of thefts in the USPS that never get caught and a lot that do not get arrested. The tracking system has lowered the theft rate quite a bit. 333 arrests seems awfully low for the whole country. I worked for the PO for 35 years and have seen quite a few people arrested in the facility where I worked.
Your experience is different than mine.
Hanlon's razor - "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
The USPS and other carriers have experienced a dramatic increase in volume over the last year.
Add to that the difficulty of hiring additional staff (many cases potential employees are "making" more staying home drawing unemployment) and also the employees who are milking the system calling off "sick" or saying they need to be tested, etc.
I'm not referencing people who are actually ill-- just those who want a few paid days off and don't give a damn how hard those who are still in the trenches have to work while the milkers milk.
So the poor stiffs who are stuck there end up working their tails off day after day after long day under stressful short-handed conditions, and, yeah, mistakes happen.
This is a true story. Back in the day a coin dealer would sell coin via Coin World. He would list a coin like a gem BU standing Liberty quarter for $600 and it was a deal if true. The coin was over graded on purpose and sold to the customer and it needed to be mailed. This dealer would go to the post office and insure it for the $600 amount that the customer paid. He would place the coin in a box or envelope and put on the box "Handle With Care Valuable Coin Inside" The coin would never arrive. He would get paid on the full value of the coin for a coin that was worth 1/3rd of the value. He would file a claim for the full $600 on a $50-100 coin. He returns the $600 to the customer and collect on the Insurance and picks up a nice weeks pay. Now I am at a bar I mention this to a buddy in passing. He sends a quarter to a friend. Nothing special, he insures the coin for a couple of hundred dollar, he places rare coin handle with care.. Bang ! stolen again. Beautiful Bruce picks up a few hundred dollars. This happened with the coin dealer I guess many times when it was warranted. The dealer was a real bottom feeder. Bought gold coins as foreign from a lady for 3 cents each. Son got involved with police and she got the coins back.. A real bottom feeder..
I sent $10,000.00 in gold and silver coins Pennsylvania to Massachusetts and just sent 2 packages of $5,000.00+ to PCGS in California with no problems what so ever. That's just a few of the dozens of coins over the years with absolutely no problems. Covid has caused some delay but that was to be expected. I have no complaints on the USPS.
When I shipped gold coins (Britannia sets - twice), I used registered and insured. Was slow, two weeks, but tracked and delivered. This was several years ago (gold close to $2K).... I would do it that way again. Cheers, RickO
For high value - registered is the only way to go in my opinion - if using USPS.