Dumb Ass Move

 So we've had some mail thefts in the 'hood of late, and the news was shared with all the Devonwoodians. I hadn't heard about any major identity thefts as a result, but you would think I paid attention and stopped putting outgoing mail into my street side box. You would be wrong.

I figured I knew how to outsmart thieves. I NEVER put up the flag that told the postal carrier there was waiting mail. Rather, Belkys, our long time carrier, would simply fetch it when she delivered mail -- we almost NEVER had a day without some mail. My strategy was that thieves would ignore my box, and I could continue my happily lazy habit  of not driving to the Post Office.

Wednesday my taxes were ready to go -- a healthy check to the IRS in one envelope, on account that the damned stock market keeps doing well under Biden, and another envelope with payment for Mark, the CPA who does my personal taxes. I popped both in the box and drove off for Aventura, for an actual business meeting Paul and I had.

That evening I got home, and checked the mailbox. It was empty. Hmmm. This concerned me -- Belkys only opened the box when she delivered, and there was no delivery. Had I become the victim of my own stupidity, in the face of clear advice against that stupidity?

Yesterday, I decided to seek out Belkys -- I got on my bike late in the afternoon and looked for her. Sure enough, she was delivering a few streets away, and I asked her if she had indeed retrieved 2 outgoing letters Wednesday without leaving new mail. She was OFF Wednesday, she said, and I told her why I was concerned.

She took my number and said she'd text when she learned who was covering for her Wednesday. I told her not to go postal about this. She laughed -- she likes me.

She texted later -- the person covering for her was from out of district, and she couldn't identify him or her. Crap! I must be a victim.

I emailed Mark the CPA and told him to watch for the letter from me, figuring if he didn't receive it in nearby Cooper City by Monday, I had indeed been had. And I had mailed a letter with the Big Three of ID theft: social security number, name, and birthdate! Some Eastern European fraudster would be having a field day soon. 

This am I signed up for LifeLock, as D1 did when she was an ID theft victim years ago. Hers came about as the result of a rogue Dermatologist employee, who stole IDs of a thousand patients of the now retired doc, and gave them to her criminal boyfriend, who was arrested in Atlanta with all the info, including D1's.

Sure enough, D1 got a letter from the government wanting to confirm her requested refund that was double her salary! It was a pain, but she got it sorted out, and then doc paid for LifeLock.

Well, indeed it is often more important to be lucky than smart, and this afternoon CPA Mark emailed to tell me he indeed received the letter with my payment and other documents. Whew! Belky's replacement had indeed plucked the outgoing mail even though there was no delivered mail. I now assume the US Treasury letter was posted, too.

Now, though, I HAVE learned my lesson. No more outgoing mail with any personal information put into the box. I'll either hand it to Belkys, bring it to the Post Office, or better, use UPS or FedEx.

And LifeLock will probably tell me stuff about my presence on the Dark Web -- so that'll be a new source of anxiety. Maybe my information is being used to fight Ukraine. Who knows these days?

Still, I am happy my dumb ass move seems to have had no bad consequences. I'll know for sure when the Goverment deposits my tax check. And with any luck, I'll make far less in 2024 and not have to pay!

Dumb ass, indeed.