A POSTAL worker is going to jail and facing numerous felony charges after allegedly stealing critical documents from the mail.
Homeowners living on the route mail carrier Bianca Wheat worked noticed they were missing several important pieces of mail.
The owners claimed that Wheat was allegedly taking credit cards sent via USPS and used them, robbing thousands of dollars from the families.
Law enforcement suspects that the Georgia woman corroborated with others to help steal credit cards from the individuals, ABC affiliate WSB reported.
“This not only was an inside job, but there’s people outside as well,” an alleged anonymous victim told WSB.
“Since they haven’t caught them yet, I don’t want anybody to know who I am.”
The anonymous source said she was told by her credit card company that her card had arrived, but she never received it.
“I looked at my email, and it said you’ve got your card,” the victim said.
“And I was sitting here working and looking out the window, and I saw the postal person drop my mail about five minutes later.”
Shortly after opening the email, she got a notification saying she spent over her $7,000 credit card limit.
“I called Capital One,” she told the Atlanta news outlet.
“They said the card was used and activated, which concerned me anyway because I said, ‘How was it activated if I never got it?’”
The issue repeated itself when the woman ordered a new replacement credit card.
Investigators confirmed that the card was loaded onto Paypal, and the money was sent to a separate account.
Another person in the Acworth community Wheat worked in suffered the same issue as their neighbor.
“We didn’t really become aware that this was something major going on until my neighbors said stuff as well,” the victim said.
“And we said, ‘OK, it’s time to take action.’”
The U.S. Sun reached out to the USPS for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Avoiding mail theft
To prevent mail theft, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) recommends residents take several precautions.
- First, avoid letting mail sit in your mailbox—inspect it daily and remove it promptly.
- For package deliveries, track shipments on the USPS website and sign up for email or text alerts to stay informed.
- If you’re not home when your mail is scheduled to arrive, consider asking a trusted neighbor to pick it up for you.
- For longer absences, you can have your mail held at the Post Office by requesting this service online.
- If valuable mail such as checks doesn’t arrive, immediately reach out to the issuing agency.
- It’s also crucial to update your address with the Post Office and any businesses you regularly correspond with to avoid potential issues.
- Lastly, for outgoing mail, it’s safer to hand it directly to your letter carrier or deposit it inside your local Post Office for added security.
Source: U.S. Postal Inspector
DELIVERY DELAYS
The United States Postal Service has been under fire recently for weeks-long delivery delays.
In Indiana, lawmakers are now demanding answers from the postal service over why citizens’ packages are being delayed for weeks on end.
Some small business owners and individuals have expressed dissatisfaction, stating that their complaints to the USPS have been disregarded. This has prompted politicians from different parties to collaborate on drafting a letter addressed to the Postmaster General.
In response to the concerns raised in the letter, the USPS reassured that the local management team at the Indianapolis Regional Processing Center is dedicated to maintaining continuous processing of mail and packages. They also mentioned that they are vigilantly overseeing all processing operations.
“The Postal Service understands the importance of every single package and letter mailed by our customers.”
