Police Find Piles Of Stolen Mail In Frisco Home

[TXCharlie]

http://www.nbc5i.com/money/7991497/detail.html

POSTED: 9:59 am CST March 14, 2006
UPDATED: 10:10 am CST March 14, 2006

FRISCO, Texas -- A Frisco mother is free on bond after police say they found bags of stolen mail inside her home.

Investigators said when they went to arrest 31-year-old Natalie Newberry on credit card abuse charges, a search warrant turned up piles of stolen mail and packages.

"We found mail in just about every room of the house, stacked," said Sgt. Gina McFarlin with the Frisco Police Department. "They would open drawers and mail would just fall out. They would open cabinets, the same thing, mail would just fall out."

Police said all the stolen mail belongs to residents of Frisco, but that it could take several months to go through all of the stolen mail to identify the victims.

One woman who wished to remain anonymous recalled the hassle of identity theft.

"I've had to open a post office box ... change all of my mail to the post office box. Part of it has been late, you know, it's just been a real headache," the woman said.

The woman had $1,000 charged on her Nordstrom's account for a gift card purchased on the Internet. Police said the card was ordered in the name of Newberry's 3-year-old daughter and sent to her next door neighbor's house.

"Really, I put it together when I didn't get my mortgage payment. That's my biggest bill," the woman said.

McFarlin said the woman would place charges on the accounts over the telephone after claiming to the merchant in person that she had left her card at home and would call with the information. [WTF - Stupid merchants!]

Detectives said they believe the woman would drive around neighborhoods and take mail and packages.

"They found boxes that had been assumingly delivered to other houses and they were picked up from the front porch," McFarlin said.

The anonymous victim said she believes credit card companies should stop printing account numbers on monthly statements and that the authorities should be very strict in dealing with the thefts.

"I think that they should really be strict with them because, you know, that's our privacy. We can't have the convenience to use our mailbox anymore," the woman said.