A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker was the victim of a mugging in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, officials confirmed on Saturday evening. According to a report by CWBChicago, the 53-year-old mail carrier was near the junction of Armitage and Wolcott when a male attacker assaulted her and stole her USPS master key, an essential tool for accessing multiple buildings and mailboxes.
The incident took place just before 6:30 p.m. on the 1900 block of West Armitage Avenue, where the suspect made a quick escape to a black SUV that was last seen heading west through an alley, and this kind of attack not only endangers the postal workers but also poses a significant risk to residents' privacy and the security of their personal information. Chicago police and Area Five detectives are investigating the situation, as confirmed by a public information officer from the US Postal Inspection Service to WLS. Fortunately, the mail carrier sustained no injuries during the mugging.
Arrow keys, such as the one stolen in the robbery, have been targeted in the past due to their critical role in identity theft schemes and check fraud operations across the city. CWBChicago has reported that these keys can be used by criminal organizations to facilitate the theft of mail, leading to significant financial crimes. In the case of a check stolen from the mail, it can be chemically altered to display a larger amount with the victim often unaware until the crime has already occurred, with one source noting, "The stolen $40 utility payment is changed to $4,000." These scams can trap not only the individual whose check is stolen but also those who are preyed upon by fraudsters to open bank accounts under pretenses.
Due to the prevalence of such mail thefts, the USPS has advised the public to be cautious about dropping mail into the iconic blue mailboxes, particularly after the last collection times to avoid theft, it has become so widespread that traditional means of correspondence carry the weight of potential compromise, echoing a warning by a CWBChicago source: "Never put anything into the postal system unless you are comfortable with it landing in the hands of criminals instead of at its intended destination."
