When the red flag is up, it should be a red flag to you. Leaving something valuable in your mailbox can really cost you. Some crooks can take checks for bills out of the mailbox and cash in.
One woman, Mary Cole, has paid her bills that way for 30 years. She walks outside, goes to the mailbox, and puts the check inside.
But the red flag to alert the mailman also alerts thieves. It happened to Cole. She put the checks in the mailbox, and later on, someone she didn't know cashed them for more than three thousand dollars.
The Better Business Bureau helped her out, and her bank says they'll return the money to her account. In the meantime, Cole say she's going to deliver the rest of this month's bills directly to the post office.
Postal inspectors say that's the best way to do it. Go inside the post office, drop it through the slot, or use the mail collection boxes outside. Make sure it's before collection time, and don't let it sit overnight.