Amid surging mail theft, post offices failing to secure universal keys

The U.S. Postal Service has pledged rigorous action to combat the rising theft of Americans’ mail — from checks and packages to the sensitive information that identity thieves crave.

But even as mail theft skyrocketed, from fewer than 60,000 complaints in 2018 to more than 250,000 in 2023, a CBS News investigation has found the postal service is not consistently taking steps to secure millions of universal “arrow keys” that open bulk mailboxes in apartment buildings and neighborhoods coast to coast.

A CBS News review of thousands of pages of audits, court records and agency documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show postal workers and supervisors not tracking the keys, not locking them up and not reporting them missing.

In audit after audit of postal facilities from New York to Los Angeles, the agency’s independent inspectors documented workers and supervisors failing to follow basic, long-standing regulations meant to protect the keys — and to prevent one easy way thieves are stealing Americans’ mail in bulk.

From 2019 to 2024, the records reviewed by CBS News showed that auditors checked 84 postal facilities for issues related to securing their arrow keys. In 76 facilities across 25 states and the District of Columbia, the inspectors found untracked or unsecured arrow keys.

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