What to do when a package or mail is stolen

Missing, misdelivered or stolen: confirm first

A package marked "delivered" is not always a stolen package. Drivers sometimes scan items early, leave them at a side door, or deliver to a neighboring address. Before you report a theft, confirm what the carrier recorded. Open the tracking page, note the time and location of the delivery scan, and look at the delivery photo if the carrier took one. Then search the property and ask neighbors, building staff or a leasing office.

If the evidence points to theft, such as a camera clip showing someone taking the box, or a photo of the package on your doorstep that is now gone, treat it as porch piracy (the theft of packages left outside a home or business after delivery). If letter mail is missing, especially checks, bank statements or new cards, treat it as mail theft, which is a federal offense investigated by postal inspectors. The distinction matters, because each one is reported to a different place.

Who to contact first: the seller, the carrier or USPS

For an online purchase, the seller is usually the fastest route to a replacement or refund. Most large retailers handle missing packages from the order page in your account. Contact the seller through that page or its official help center rather than through a number found in a search ad, because fake support lines are common.

The carrier is the second contact. Each one handles missing packages differently:

• USPS: the USPS mail theft help page points to separate online forms for tracked packages and for letter mail or untracked items. USPS also runs a Missing Mail search, which it says can be submitted starting 7 days from mailing.
• UPS: the UPS claims page says recipients and third-party shippers can file as guests, that a shipper's account restrictions can block a recipient's claim, and that claim payments go to the shipper. UPS lists a 60-day window from scheduled delivery to start a lost or damaged claim, and it notes that packages released without a signature at the customer's request are not eligible for lost claims.
• FedEx: FedEx's help page for delivered-but-missing packages says to check the picture proof of delivery, then use Manage Delivery and Report Missing Package on the tracking page, or file a claim online.
• Other carriers and retailer fleets: use the carrier's own tracking page or the retailer's order page. USPIS says it does not have jurisdiction over packages from other carriers that lack a USPS tracking number.

Carrier rules, eligibility and deadlines change. Check each carrier's current instructions before you rely on a timeframe.

Reporting mail theft to the Postal Inspection Service

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. Its report page lists mail theft as a reporting category, along with identity theft involving stolen mail. USPIS also accepts mail theft reports by phone at 1-877-876-2455, the number shown on its own site. Report when letters or packages were taken from your mailbox, a collection box or your doorstep after USPS delivery.

Two other reporting routes apply in specific cases. USPS directs suspected theft or tampering by postal employees to the USPS Office of Inspector General. For a stolen U.S. Treasury check, USPS says to contact the agency that issued it. Report vandalized mailboxes to local police as well.

Report even when the loss is small. Investigators connect individual reports to identify patterns, routes and repeat offenders, and a single report can become part of a larger case.

Why a police report still matters

Postal inspectors handle mail crimes, but local police handle most porch theft, especially for packages delivered by private carriers. A police report creates an official record that sellers, card issuers and insurers may request. Ask for the report number and the officer's name, and keep both with your tracking details and camera footage.

Laws on package theft vary by state. Some states have created specific porch piracy offenses, while others charge it under general theft statutes, where the penalty depends on the value of the property. Ask the department how the offense is recorded where you live.

Underreporting is part of the problem. A redesigned federal crime survey found only 25.0% of property crimes reported to police, and 18.5% for other household theft, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victimization Estimates from the Redesigned NCVS Instrument, 2024. Every unreported theft is a theft the police never see.

How much mail and package theft is reported

Government figures give a partial view. The USPS Office of Inspector General counted 38,500 high-volume mail theft incidents from mail receptacles in FY2022 and more than 25,000 in the first half of FY2023, and 412 letter carriers were robbed in FY2022, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service's Response to Mail Theft (22-178-R23). Those figures are dated and cover high-volume incidents at mail receptacles rather than every stolen package.

Enforcement data are newer. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service opened 1,487 mail theft cases, made 1,353 arrests and obtained 1,259 convictions in FY2024, and mail theft complaints fell 20% from FY2023, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Annual Report FY2024.

Neither source counts doorstep theft of packages from private carriers, which is reported mainly to retailers and local police. The true volume of porch theft is not published in any single official data set.

Stolen checks and check washing

The most damaging item in stolen mail is often a check. Check washing is the practice the U.S. Postal Inspection Service describes as changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks, sometimes by treating stolen checks with chemicals to remove the ink, and then depositing them. Some thieves copy or scan checks to print counterfeits instead.

The scale is significant. Banks filed more than 350,000 check fraud suspicious activity reports in 2021 and over 680,000 in 2022, according to FinCEN Alert FIN-2023-Alert003, Mail Theft-Related Check Fraud. FinCEN later received 15,417 Bank Secrecy Act reports of mail theft-related check fraud between February and August 2023, tied to more than $688 million in transactions, and altered checks were about 44%, according to the FinCEN Financial Trend Analysis: Mail Theft-Related Check Fraud. That transaction value includes attempts, not only completed losses.

If a check you mailed or expected was in the stolen mail, act quickly:

• Call your bank or credit union: ask about a stop payment, closing the account and opening a new one, and copies of the front and back of any altered check.
• Tell the intended recipient: so they know the payment did not arrive and can watch for it.
• Report it: USPIS advises filing with the Postal Inspection Service, local police and your credit reporting bureau.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that state law generally protects you when someone forges the payee's signature, but that protection generally does not apply to a blank signed check. Our stolen wallet, cards and checks guide covers stop payments and account changes in more detail.

Insurance, refunds and card protections

Recovery money usually comes from one of four places: the seller, the carrier, your card issuer or your insurer. The seller is often the first and simplest. Carrier claims depend on the service and any declared value or insurance; USPS states that it may not legally pay compensation for uninsured lost or damaged articles, and its claims page lists the services that qualify.

Some credit cards include purchase protection or let you dispute a charge for an item you never received. These benefits vary widely by issuer and card, and they often require documentation such as the police report and the seller's response. Homeowner's and renter's policies may also cover theft, subject to the deductible. Read the terms before you file, and keep every case number in one place.

Preventing the next theft

Prevention works by shortening the time a package or letter sits unattended. The most effective habits are simple:

• See what is coming: USPS Informed Delivery is free and shows grayscale images of incoming letter mail and package status, so a missing check or card is noticed quickly. Eligibility depends on your address.
• Change where it lands: use Hold for Pickup, USPS Smart Lockers, carrier pickup points or retailer lockers.
• Require a handoff: ask for signature confirmation on valuable items.
• Hold mail when away: use USPS Hold Mail, or ask a trusted neighbor to collect it.
• Mail checks safely: USPIS advises using a blue collection box before the last pickup or the Post Office itself, and never sending cash.

The USPIS mail theft prevention page adds two more steps: follow up with the sender when expected valuable mail does not arrive, and file a change of address with the Postal Service and your financial institutions when you move.