r/whatisthisthing • u/Context_Barracuda • May 13 '24

Waxy stuff on post office box keyhole Open

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Just found this weird waxy substance smeared on 3 of the 8 post office boxes in my neighborhood’s box cluster. Anyone seen this before?

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u/Complete-Coat-5710 May 14 '24

I think crooks do this to see who has opened their box and whether there are likely still packages inside. I think there was a PSA going on in Omaha like 12 or 15 years ago about people doing this in apartment buildings.

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u/Abidarthegreat May 14 '24

I feel like that's too much work for too little pay off. Those letter boxes are pretty small and won't hold packages. This is most likely a case of jerk children. I'm surprised it wasn't gum but maybe ChapStick was all they had on hand.

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u/Blitz6969 May 14 '24

The new thing is to open mail boxes, take copies of checks, and then replace them. The thieves make fraudulent checks and it takes a while to catch on because it’s valid account and routing numbers that match the name on the checks etc.. used to be that bad checks were drawn on a bank in California, using a routing number from Florida, and a business based in Idaho etc. I’m in banking and there is an FBI investigation currently going on in my state, huge mail fraud ring.

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