Collect your mail quickly, says USPS, after security concerns in Seattle

As South Seattle mail delivery resumes, postal inspectors are still raising the alarm about theft and fraud.

Mail delivery resumed in most of South Seattle's 98118 zip code, Tuesday, after a brief halt in USPS service.

But the postal service is still concerned about mail security and theft.

About 900 residents of Columbia City, Rainier Valley, and the surrounding area got notice last week that they'd need to pick up their mail from a USPS annex. The trucks had stopped delivering to people's mailboxes because of an unspecified "equipment security" issue.

Patrice Stubblefield has had to use her lunch break to pick up mail. Thankfully it was temporary, because the annex wasn't used to this many customers.

“It was really sad last time I was in", Stubblefield said. "That poor lady, she looked so frazzled, but what can she do? She's trying to do a job the best she could. It was just her [behind the desk]. She said 'it's just me today'. It's like, 'What?'”

USPS did not specify the exact problem in 98118, but says crews made security improvements Monday and Tuesday.

More broadly, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is concerned about mail theft and fraud. The inspection service is the law enforcement agency connected with USPS.

Postal Inspector John Wiegand says they're aware of active schemes in the Puget Sound region.

"I can't speak to those investigations specifically at this time, but we do have significant mail theft issue that happens in the Seattle area," he says.

"The 98118 zip code has seen a little bit of an uptick in the last few weeks and we are working to try and address that.”

Postal authorities are also rolling out high-security blue collection bins, and other new equipment, nationwide. They announced slate of security improvements last week.

Wiegand says the best thing people can do is pick up their mail as soon as they can each day. That helps prevent theft, and tells perpetrators that you and your neighbors are active and watching for mail to come in.

Inspectors also want residents to report when mail is stolen, when they find discarded piles of mail, and when they receive phishing schemes (usually by electronic mail).