Small town Rutland makes easy target for mail-based credit thieves

RUTLAND, Mass. — Police are warning residents to be on the lookout for suspicious people at their mailboxes after a rash of credit card fraud by identity thieves.

Investigators say the suspects rang up charges at stores along the South Shore, but victims targeted in the area say the small town of Rutland made for easy pickings.

They say it's because the thieves chose mailboxes along rural routes hidden from prying eyes.

"We had relatives -- same thing happen to them, only they racked up thousands of dollars," victim Daniel Wilson said.

He has always carefully monitored his family’s finances. But last week, the scam showed up at his doorstep.

"We received a letter from a bank saying that we had applied for a credit card that we never applied for," he explained.

Wilson canceled the card from Key Bank before any fraudulent charges were made. But police say another neighbor on the same street wasn’t as lucky.

"This particular case is concerning because it seems like somebody got your information and showed up at your house," Rutland Police Chief Nick Monaco said.

Investigators believe the suspects are using stolen information to apply for credit and then intercepting the cards at the victims’ mailboxes.

"We’ve sent officers to the post office, going to have postal employees look out for any of the same mail from the same bank going to the same neighborhoods because it’s likely if they sent mail to that neighborhood, they’re gonna do it again," Chief Monaco said.

Police say the thieves have used the stolen cards at stores in Randolph, Brockton and Carver.

They’re now working with detectives in those cities to find images of the suspects shopping with someone else’s money.

Police are telling residents to be on the lookout for those application letters from Key Bank as the first red flag they could be next.

Cox Media Group