Mail carriers are increasingly becoming the targets of robberies and armed robberies.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported 261 robberies in 2021 alone, according to a public records request obtained by NBC News. In 2018, there were 80. Armed robberies went from 36 to 154.
This trend of robberies is likely to continue. In March, USPIS published an advisory pointing out an increase in robberies in 2022.
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“The primary motive behind these robberies is illegal financial gains,” the advisory read. “In the present day, with the dark web and organized crime promoting these unlawful activities, robberies and mail theft are becoming increasingly more attractive to criminals.”
From the time the advisory was published to the time of this report, USPIS has reported eight robberies already across California, Oklahoma, Indiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and Florida. It’s offering a combined $400,000 in reward money for any information about these robbers.
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USPIS received more than 299,000 mail theft complaints from March 2020 through February 2021, increasing by 184,500 complaints compared to the same time the year before, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General.
