As you approach school holidays, you must be wary if you find this common object in your mailbox.
School holidays are approaching and part of French people will leave their homes for a few days of rest. But others will have more work, and not always for the better. Vacation departure periods are indeed the favorite moment of burglars. In 2023, 219,898 burglaries were recorded in France by the police, according to the data of the Statistical Service of the Ministry of Internal Security (SSMSI). And they were more numerous in December, August and November, for periods of school holidays. In February 2023 alone, 16,648 burglaries were also counted.
Burglars develop increasingly elaborate techniques to find out if you are at home during this holiday period. One of them has been raging lately, it is very simple and can therefore be dangerously effective. The criminals use your mailbox. They slide a small object there that can tell them your absence. This technique has notably been recently observed in Finistère, in Pays-de-la-Loire or even in Haute-Garonne. It gradually seems to touch a good part of France.
This object is a simple blank leaf A4 virgin. The criminals let it slightly exceed but so that it is not too visible, it is often slipped at the base of the mailbox rather than in the slit. If it stays in place for several days, then they guess that you are not at home, unless obviously you do not often note your mail. The criminals can then identify the potential targets for a burglary, without being spotted.
To protect yourself from this risk, it is important to regularly check your mailbox and remove everything that might seem suspicious. In the event of a discovery of such a white sheet, contact the police to notify them that burglars could run in your neighborhood. If you are away, the ideal is to ask a trust neighbor or a loved one to raise your mail. You can also register for the “Operation Vacances” operation. This process is done with a police station or on the government site Dedicated and allows patrols to go around your home and warn you in the event of anomalies.