Columbia Falls Postmaster Shawna Crum said she’s received about 200 complaints about altered, opened, or missing mail over the course of the past eight months.

To be safe, Crum suggests that people use a locked box or rent a post office box to ensure their mail isn’t stolen.

“Once we put the mail in the mailbox it’s out of our control,” Crum said Monday. “(Theft) is happening, so if you have a rural box, once we put (the mail) in there, you’re on your own.”

But law enforcement say they haven’t gotten even close to the number of complaints that Crum claims she’s seen.

Columbia Falls Police Chief Clint Peters said the department hasn’t gotten any reports of stolen mail, except for one isolated incident recently in which a package was broken into. And identity theft, even via mail, isn’t new.

“It’s hard to track down exactly where identity theft takes place,” Peters noted. “We have had a couple of incidents here where we suspect the mail was stolen and that’s where the identity theft started.”

But he hasn’t heard anything about a crime wave, at least not here specifically.

“We’re not getting those reports, if that’s the case,” he explained. “I don’t think it’s a secret group of people, I think it’s a new trend we’re seeing in the identity theft process with locals stealing other locals’ identity.”

Columbia Falls isn’t different than anywhere else, either, Peters continued.

“I think anytime anybody finds an opportunity they’re going to take it,” he said. “We’re not getting hit any harder than anyone else.”

Anyone with concerns could schedule a time during their day to pick up mail right after it’s delivered, or invest in a locked mailbox or post office box.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said he hadn’t received any reports of a crime wave of mail theft, either.

“We always have the occasional incident, but there’s been nothing in Columbia Falls. Maybe one (report) every couple weeks,” he said.