Police warn of 'sophisticated' way criminals are using to get your personal info

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man is accused of stealing a family's mail by placing a hold on it – and it was a postal worker who helped lead police to solving the crime.

Dan Weber now has major security questions after the elaborate theft of his neighbor's mail in Dunwoody.

"We take for granted the security of our mail in this country,” Weber said.

Dunwoody police said in this case, a mailman delivered them the suspect after noticing a suspicious "hold mail" request from the victim.

Officer Anwar Sillah said the post office conducted a sting holding back some junk mail. And a few days later, they said Samuel Oyinola showed up to collect.

He's now facing several charges, including ID theft.

"Whenever you've gone a few days and notice there's no mail in your mailbox, after a certain amount of days that should raise a red flag and you might want to check with your postal carrier and make sure there's not a mail hold being placed on your mail,” Sillah said.

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The postal inspector said they are taking steps to enhance the security of their hold mail process.

In a statement, they said: “Customers are encouraged to monitor the receipt of their mail, by retrieving it daily from the mailbox or through Informed Delivery online. Any suspicious activity, or non-receipt of mail over a couple days should be reported to their local post office, or to our federal law enforcement arm, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service."

Cox Media Group