Time to start shoveling out from an avalanche of junk mail

Have you noticed the increasing volume of junk mail in your mailbox these days?

Our postal carriers can probably avoid the gym thanks to the great workout they get carrying pounds of annoying literature to our homes.

The mailbox is a great source of data for identity thieves who want to drain your accounts.

Additionally, trash day crooks can rifle your trash cans next to the road, tape together that credit card application you tore in thirds, and obtain credit under your name.

The world has changed and honest consumers have to change with it in order to reduce the risk of being fleeced. Identity theft is not just an Internet experience pulled off by charlatans from other countries. It can be right here on a residential street in Maine.

First let’s address the mailbox. Perhaps it’s time to have a family discussion about how to better secure your mailbox from the bad guys.

Would relocating it closer to the house or to a more visible location lower the odds of folks rifling through your mail? Is there a better mailbox, perhaps a USPS-approved unit that has a lock and key mechanism?

Perhaps you have noticed those apartment buildings with the large silver mailbox pigeonholes for each tenant all mounted on one post. These are designed for 10 to 15 units, and each box is keyed differently. That box also has a separate locked slot for outgoing mail. Additionally, there is a locked section for USPS packages. While these ungainly looking boxes won’t win a curbside appeal award, they do slow down the bad guys considerably, an attractive feature. There are also locked mailboxes for individual residences. Check with your post office to see what is available.

Since, in many families, both parents work away from the home, an unlocked, unattended mailbox is inviting to thieves for six to 10 hours each day.

As for trash that often includes a week’s worth of junk mail, please buy and use a paper shredder. These come in a variety of shapes, sizes and costs. Don’t be overly frugal and buy one too small for the big job at hand. Cross-cut is a better feature than strip-cut to assure confidentiality of the material shredded.

Pre-approved credit card offers are the most dangerous items in your mailbox. To check the flow of these offers to your home, call (888) 567-8688 from your home telephone (they’ll check to make sure it’s you) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com. You can opt out for five years or permanently. You will need to opt out individually for every adult in your household.

Warranty cards that many feel compelled to fill out and return to the manufacturer are not essential. Their main purpose is to provide marketing information (i.e., family size, family income, hobbies, etc.) that is often sold to other companies so they can mail you more literature. Do keep the warranty card and attach the receipt should there be a need to get the company to honor the warranty in the future. Also, don’t forget Maine’s four-year implied warranty law. Details can be found at www.maine.gov/ag.

A quick search of the Internet shows several other junk-mail categories and ways to stop them from landing in your mailbox. One strategy that won’t slow the tsunami of paper is to write “refused” or “return to sender.” These only show marketers there is a live one at that address and the amount of junk may actually increase.

Some of us remember those bucolic days of long ago, a quieter, gentler time, when the postal carrier arrived on our dusty country road with the day’s offerings. Perhaps the mail included a picture postcard of the Bangor Waterworks and Salmon Pool and a scribbled note on the back in pencil from a friend or relative having a great time in the “big city.”

Maybe there was a welcome letter from a loved one fighting in the South Pacific. To survive in today’s identity-theft climate, we must change our perceptions and practices. Sadly, what once was, is no longer.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership costs $25; business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.