RIVERDALE, Ga -- One of the easiest ways for a thief to steal your identity is to come right to your home. Some people's most private and valuable information can be stolen from their mail box.
That's what happened to Les Killion of Riverdale. He was sitting at his computer in front of a window that looks out into his front yard. He can see his mail box from there. "And I noticed a car came from the far end of the street, crossed over the double yellow line, opened the mailbox, and pulled the letter out and took off," Killion said.
The letter contained a check for $300 that he wrote to the IRS. He was lucky he saw the crime happen otherwise he wouldn't have found out until it was too late. "Probably in about a week when I would have found out there was no money in my account," he said.
Killion immediately put a stop on the check and changed his checking account at his bank. He learned the hard way that thieves look for signs. Police warn people never mail checks by putting them in your mail box. Most people put up the red flag for the mail man, but it's a red flag for thieves to target your mail box.
Killion said he won't do it again. "I'll just wait and when I hear the mail truck I'll run out there and hand it to them," he said.
The securest way is to take your mail to the Post Office and put it in a mail box there.