Who’s watching your mailbox?

DALLAS — You should always guard your mail, but you need to be especially vigilant at this time of year.

That’s because January is when you start receiving sensitive personal documents, such as year-end credit card summaries, your W-2 and 1099 income tax forms, and brokerage stateme

nts.

Those have critical information, such as your full name, address, Social Security number and account numbers that identity thieves treasure.

“People don’t understand that ‘walkers’ follow mail carriers and look through your mail for any bonanza they can find,” said Linda Foley, chairwoman of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization in San Diego.

“Mail thieves know the prime time is between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Others take advantage of the dark of night and/or consumers’ tendencies of not checking mailboxes each day.”

Some thieves even open the envelopes, copy the documents, then reseal your mail and place it back in your mailbox a day later, she said.

“It is one of those times of the year when everyone should be on the lookout, and if you aren’t receiving the appropriate amount of documentation you’re expecting, you need to act quickly,” said U.S. Postal Inspector Amanda McMurrey.

Keep a monthly calendar of when items arrive and if they seem delayed, call the sender to find out why.

Then contact the post office. The toll-free number for the U.S. Postal Service is 800-275-8777.

“You may have a new carrier on the route,” McMurrey said.

In a worst-case scenario, someone may have submitted a change-of-address form without your knowledge to have your mail forwarded to them.

To protect consumers, the Postal Service will automatically send letters to your old address and new address “to verify that indeed that was a legitimate change-of-address order,” McMurrey said.

If you think your mail’s been stolen, contact your creditors or bank about your bills and notify the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the federal law enforcement agency that protects the nation’s mail system.

The toll-free number for the postal inspection service is 1-877-876-2455. You may also file a mail theft complaint online at http://tinyurl.com/theftcomplaint.

Your local post office doesn’t handle criminal matters concerning the mail.

To expedite the investigation of your case, gather any documents that demonstrate that thieves may have hijacked your sensitive personal information, such as credit card statements or bad checks, and submit copies with your mail theft complaint.

Here are other things you can do to protect your mail:

Get a secure locked mailbox for your home or a post office box.

Don’t leave your mail in your box for long.

If you’re going on vacation, have your mail held at the post office until you return to retrieve it.

“Don’t use the excuse that you always get the mail when it arrives,” Foley said. “Postal deliveries are not always at the same time, and you can’t make sure you are standing next to your box at the right moment. That 30-second window is all a thief needs.”