Most people are aware that the front door is your biggest line of defence against burglars. Making sure that this door is secure and can be locked properly, is vital, since this is the first way a burglar will try to enter your home. But they won’t always try to break in through the locks. Sometimes, burglars will try something else called ‘letterbox burglary’. Which, like the name suggests, uses your innocent-looking letterbox to gain access to your home. Today, we’re going to look at the what, the why, and how you can prevent it.
What is Letterbox Burglary?
Essentially, a burglar uses the letterbox on your door to do one of two things: steal the keys for a car parked outside or break into your home. This is done by pushing their hand through the letterbox and seeing what they can find. But since most people don’t keep things at waist-height in their hallway, most will use a special tool. It’s essentially like a fishing hook or even a piece of bent wire, which they thread through the letterbox and use to hook out keys that are kept near the door. They can then use those keys on your door, and you’d never know they were there. Both of these methods are very quick and effective ways to break into your home, and don’t even require special skills to do!
How Common Is Letterbox Burglary?
We’ll be the first to admit, the letterbox isn’t the most common way a burglar will break in. But it is an increasingly common way of stealing cars, as many people keep their keys on hooks or in bowls right by the front door. They’re also commonly used for information gathering. It’s all too easy to peek through a letterbox to take a look inside while someone isn’t home. There’s one other crime that letterboxes can be used for. Unfortunately, letterbox arson is another issue homeowners deal with. This is where something flammable or already on fire is pushed through the letterbox in order to start a fire. So having a smoke detector near the front door isn’t a bad idea either.
Can You Prevent Letterbox Burglary?
Absolutely. Remember, thieves are all about opportunity. They will often chance at a vulnerable-looking property rather than spend a lot of energy and time on a difficult one. So your job is to make your property as strong and secure as possible. Or your letterbox, in this case. The idea is to look like a difficult target, so they’ll leave you be in favour of easier pickings. A few ways you can do this include:
- Never leave keys in plain sight. Especially if you have a front door with glazed panels. Being able to see the keys through the door means they’re an easy target for burglars. However, even if you have a completely solid door you should still look through your letterbox from the outside, and see what you can see. You might be surprised! Any keys or wallets that are visible from here should be moved and stored somewhere else.
- Install a draught excluder letterbox. If your letterbox is essentially a hole in the door covered by a metal flap, then now is the time to upgrade it. Draught excluder letterboxes don’t just keep the wind out. Those rows of soft nylon bristles that edge the gap stop burglars from being able to see through the letterbox at all, and make it more difficult to feed tools through.
- Fit an anti-burglar letterbox. If you want ultimate security, anti-burglar letterboxes are available. There are anti-vandal and anti-snap letterboxes have been rigorously tested to make sure they comply with the latest security standards. The other option you have is a letterbox cage, This is essentially a wire mesh cage that sits behind the letterbox inside your door. It catches the post as it comes through, but more importantly, it also means that no hands or tools can get past it and into your home.
- Install a letterbox restrictor. You can also go down the route of a letterbox restrictor. This simple device restricts how much the inner flap of the letterbox can open, preventing anything from being pushed or manoeuvred through the letterbox.
- Remove your letterbox altogether. The final option would be to remove your letterbox altogether. This is actually a very common thing in America, and it’s being slowly adopted here. Instead of a letterbox in the door, install an external letterbox outside the door. This is a little more expensive, but it does completely eliminate the risk of letterbox burglary.
At My Locks, we’ve actually developed our own style of letterbox cage and a special set of ‘letterbox teeth’ specifically for this purpose. They’ve been 100% successful so far in preventing letterbox burglaries, so if you would like to know more about them, just get in touch with our team today.