Staunton police have issued a warning after a rash of break-ins and thefts, only this time the thieves aren't targeting businesses. Instead, they are stealing from mailboxes

According to Officer Lisa Klein, police received several more reports Friday morning of mailbox break-ins in Staunton.

"What's happened is people grab all the mail, then they go through it, take what they want and throw the rest away. So, we've had reports of torn up mail along the side of the street," says Klein.

However, the thieves aren't after birthday cards and magazines. They are looking for checks, specifically bill payments.

In this case, a late fee may be the least of the victim's worries.

"The real concern is the identity theft because, once you have that check, you have the routing number, and you have the check number and the name," says Klein.

For criminals, targeting a victim is made easy by the literal "red flag" on the mailbox.

"It's unfortunate, because that's what the mailboxes are for," comments Klein.

She says most of these crimes are happening at night, and one of the best ways to keep mail safe is to simply take it out in the morning. It's an easy change mail carrier Tom Miller hopes people will make.

"I try to make sure that the mail is secure when I deliver it. Hopefully, people will take the same precautions with their mail receptacle," says Miller.

Precautions, like checking your mail daily, are thing Miller says not everybody does.

"Then just get their mail as soon as they get from work or wherever they are because, a lot of times, I see mail in there the next day from the previous day," adds Miller.

Staunton police also suggest dropping any confidential mail directly into one of the blue U.S. Postal mailboxes the city has downtown.

Both Miller and Klein say these simple changes can go a long way to make sure a mailbox isn't red flagged by criminals.

Klein also warns that stealing mail is a federal crime.