It's getting to be a dangerous situation with thieves going after Illinois postal workers.

The History Of Mail Thieves In Illinois

I know back in the day there were incidents involving stolen mail but I don't really remember it being a serious problem. Every once in a while, a brave thief would sneak up to a house and steal mail out of the box. They were looking for checks. Also, there might've been a situation with a crooked postal worker stealing letters. It didn't seem to happen very often.

RELATED: Never Use Exterior Drop-Off Mailboxes 

Then, of course, the whole porch pirate thing started happening. They are stealing packages right off of people's front porches. The next issue is thieves breaking into exterior drop-off boxes around town. Some cities in Illinois have gone as far as to remove them. Some of the criminals will go straight to the delivery vehicles and take the mail when the postal workers are going from house to house.

US Mail Mailbox
Illinois Postal Workers Are Getting Carjacked
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Robberies Of Illinois Postal Workers Are Getting Dangerous And Scary

The porch pirates are getting much braver and taking their crime game to the next scary level. They are now carjacking postal workers. There are usually multiple armed suspects involved. The suspects approach the mail person while they're out on deliveries. When held up at gunpoint the mail person hands over any packages and letters to the thieves. Some of them have even stolen their official vehicle too.

According to cbsnews.com, 

The holy grail for these criminals is a master key for group mailboxes. That way they can hit multiple victims in just one attempt. For example, like the set up for apartment buildings. These keys can actually be more valuable than actual packages because it gives them access to much more to steal. You know it's gotten worse because the United States Post Office is offering a $50,000 award for information about the robberies.

The Most Bizarre Items Ever Stolen From Illinois Residents

My mom once told me that "people will steal anything that's not nailed down." Times certainly have changed since then. The thieves now have nail removers.

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