'Steal my mail, I dare you': Landlord gets caught rummaging through his tenant's mail; tenant gets the last laugh with an extra special delivery

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Oct 14, 2023 11:00 PM EDT

Opening someone else's mail is not only invasive but it's literally a federal offense. Right up there along with treason, insurance fraud,  and money-laundering, opening another person's mail violates their trust and can send you straight to court. Nowadays with Ring cameras and other front-door monitors, a lot of people have caught doormat pirates stealing their mail, effectively cutting the thieves off at the source. However, there are still a few instances where the perps get away with it and they're free to snoop another day– at least, until someone puts them in their place.

But what are these mail thieves hoping to find in other people's mail? Are they looking for credit card info or hot gossip? Either way, we can all safely agree that when you see someone poking around your front yard, all you want to do is scream, 'Get outta my mailbox, you creep!'… which is essentially what u/Bright_Falls did in our next story. Instead of hooting and hollering from the stoop of their home, this mail theft victim decided to take matters into their own hands, laying a trap that would trip up the person habitually going through their mail, which consequently was the last person you want to know your business: The landlord. 

Scroll onward to enjoy the timeless tale of pranks and well-deserved embarrassment, granting readers the last laugh alongside our shameless hero. For more stories of the petty revenge variety, here's one about a suburban gardener who gets payback against a corner-cutting driver by installing an enormous boulder on her front lawn.

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  • 01
    Font - r/pettyrevenge . Posted by u/Bright Falls 10 hours ago Ex landlord spotted opening my mail. I enjoyed a Royal Last Laugh.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 02
    Font - Years ago in the UK I had to move house as the landlord was the worst. I changed my address as soon as my new place was confirmed and moved out almost a month before I had to as rent was paid up.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 03
    Font - A lot of mail wasn't getting to the new place, and a friendly ex neighbour tipped me off that Geoff (ex landlord) was there almost every day, and the first thing he'd do after opening the front door was bend down and
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 04
    Font - pick up my mail and freaking open it with his greasy little hands and have a good snoop. Went to the post office to see what they could do and Royal Mail offered a forwarding service that they setup for me to go to my new address.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 05
    Font - It was then that I had the lightbulb moment. Once the forwarding service was working, I sent a 1st class letter to myself at my old address marked "CONFIDENTIAL: do not forward"
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 06
    Art - Inside it was a card saying "This is actually for you Geoff" with a drawing of a large up yours Imao
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 07
    Font - EDIT: I can't be sure because of fuzzy memory, but knowing me there would probably have been at least one phallus. Probably embarrassingly many more.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 08
    Plant - Am slightly more mature these days but some 15-20 years after that experience if something similar were to happen again I'd be mighty tempted.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 09
    Font - Been living in Canada for years now, and I just told someone this story that until now I'd almost forgotten. I'm delighted to today discover that Canada Post offer the same forwarding service.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 10
    Font - Even easier to pull off the punk here cos we have mailboxes (and phone cameras to capture joy!) Steal my mail, I dare you.
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 11
    Product - _Alazne 10 hr. ago Is it not a felony to open someone else's mail in the UK?
    via u/_Alazne_
  • 12
    Font - Bright Falls OP 10 hr. ago. edited 10 hr. ago Heh, funnily enough I was thinking if it happened to me again these days I'd probably film it and report them (sigh old people are no fun haha).
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 13
    Rectangle - Head_Meaning_3514 3 hr. ago OMG! Did you actually get to see him opening that fu letter?!? Lol!
    via u/Head_Meaning_3514
  • 14
    Font - CoderJoe1 10 hr. ago He was a right 22 Reply Share Bright Falls OP. 9 hr. ago That he was! He was a right! b ... And awwww. Simple but effective and satisfying-to-use insults like that make me miss ol' blighty
    via u/CoderJoe1
  • 15
    Human body - Crayzeemike 7 hr. ago Should've sent yourself a glitter bomb
    via u/Crayzeemike
  • 16
    Font - Bright Falls OP. 6 hr. ago I think a tightly sealed bag of very soft p p rigged to split open would have been the modus operandi back in those days. If only I had a time machine and persuaded Mark Rober to travel back with me the revenge plan would have been far more sophisticated. ;)
    via u/Bright_Falls
  • 17
    Rectangle - Ok_Afternoon_110. 6 hr. ago My dad used to open my mail. Went to a joke shop and bought a few packets of itching powder, packed it in an envelope and sent it to myself. I arrived home
    via u/Ok_Afternoon_110
  • 18
    Font - from school to find him in the shower. He had been there for hours. It got everywhere in their bedroom and my mom moved out til he arranged to get the place cleaned. He was royally
    via u/Ok_Afternoon_110
  • 19
    Smile - pod when he was told that I would by trap everything of mine that he would touch. I set rat traps in my dresser, and eventually he stopped (a mangled finger with a bone jutting out is a great deterrent)
    via u/Ok_Afternoon_110
  • 20
    Smile - ObsidianRose29 - 1 hr. ago Oi, I'd imagine the injured finger would stop anyone. Why would he go through all yours? That's annoying.
    via u/ObsidianRose29
  • 21
    Rectangle - ratethelandlord 3 hr. ago We've created a site that allows tenants to rate their landlord. Help keep landlords accountable at ratethelandlord.org
    via u/ratethelandlord
  • 22
    Automotive lighting
    via u/canva

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Tags

landlord deserves stealing mailbox revenge tenant crime petty revenge stealing mail delivered prank special delivery reddit thread Reddit payback theft mail delivery thief
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