Mail and identity theft cases on the rise in Port Phillip

A thief has been caught on camera rifling through an Elwood apartment block’s letterboxes, with one fed-up victim now on a mission to find the inner city “mail thugs” stealing cheques, credit cards and more.

Mail thieves are stepping up their game in Port Phillip, with fearless crooks taking off with hefty cheques, credit cards and other precious documents in broad daylight.

Elwood’s Steve Clark set up CCTV, which captured one man blatantly rifling through his apartment block’s letterboxes at 11pm on April 3 — and it was the fourth time Mr Clark had been targeted in six months.

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In the video, the man casually dumps mail, believed to be stolen, into the first letterbox, before rifling through the other boxes in the Brighton Rd complex.

It follows numerous thefts reported on nearby Tennyson St and Normandy Rd, and in Armadale and St Kilda.

One victim reported she had identity documents and then $8000 stolen, and another had a $10,000 cheque stolen from her Elwood mailbox.

Mr Clark said it was a serious issue and warned people to get a lock on their mailbox.

He regularly monitors online groups, and said crooks regularly went through people’s mail in Port Phillip before dumping it on the street.

Now he’s on a mission to name and shame the “mail thugs” online in the hope someone will recognise them.

“It’s awful, it’s terrible and how can you trust that your sensitive mail is making it to you?” Mr Clark said.

“I’ve tried the cops but now I just think if (thieves are) shamed online, it will have more impact.”

Mr Clark recently had an NAB credit card replacement card sent to him, before he found it on top of his locked letterbox with the card already active.

“No one likes being a victim and what about (if thieves) collect enough documents to take out finance of their own, too?

“There is a problem and more needs to be done.”

St Kilda’s Johnny Mac said he had resorted to picking up his own parcels, after having loads of mail stolen from homes on Robe St and Greg St.

“I had to lie to my family about receiving Christmas presents as they had all been stolen, and any small purchases from eBay would be lucky to arrive,” he said.

Elwood’s Tom Lewis said they’d experienced the same issues at their apartment block for weeks.

“If I see the bloke, I’ll make sure to lynch him for us all,” he said.

“My neighbour has had some invites opened, cards with cash, and the owner upstairs had (their keys stolen) from the box.”

Fellow Elwood resident Catherine also came across a “huge pile” of dumped mail in January at Elwood Primary School.

Port Phillip CIU has been contacted for comment.