12/8/17 QUEENS — When the traffic gets bottlenecked during rush hour on Northern Boulevard and 55th Road in Woodside, NYPD Inspector Tom Conforti hopes drivers will notice the huge billboard attached to the Long Island Railroad trestle.

“Learn about Mail Fishing and Check Washing,” the billboard tells all who pass by.

It’s a campaign that was launched by the police department’s Crime Prevention Bureau in conjunction with postal inspectors from the United States Postal Service. And it’s talking about an escalating problem many New Yorkers are not familiar with.

“The longer your mail sits in a box, on the corner, the more susceptible it is,” Inspector Conforti told PIX11.

Susceptible to fraud — and identity theft.

source: NYPD and US Postal Service launch drive against mail fishing, check washing