Balancing your checkbook every month makes sense for many reasons, but most people have never thought about it in terms of identity theft.

If you’re not checking your bank statements every month, it’s far too easy for someone to steal it from your mailbox without you realizing it. Mail theft is one of the most common ways that identity thieves can get information about you.

If your mail is left in an unsecured place and you don’t pick it up until you get home at the end of the day, how easy would it be for a scammer to pick through it and take the items that would be helpful to them?

By getting into the habit of checking your statements every month, you’ll notice if it’s missing.

If it doesn’t show up when you expect it, there are a few things you should do:

1. Check with your bank to see if there was a delay of some sort.
2. If they did in fact send it on time, double-check for other things that might be missing such as credit card statements.
3. Check with the post office and see if there is a change of address form on file for your address. Why would there be? Someone could have put a fraudulent change of address on file for you so they receive all your mail. If this happens, notify the post office of the fraud immediately.
4. Contact your local police and report the mail theft.
5. Contact your bank and let them know what happened. You’ll want to change your PIN codes at the very least, but you may even need to change account numbers so the information that was stolen won’t be of any use.