WASHINGTON The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said Friday it taking a series of steps to crack down on mail theft, rising robberies of carriers, change of address fraud and counterfeit postage.

USPS said it is installing 12,000 high security blue collection boxes nationwide to make access more difficult for criminals and is evaluating replacing additional existing blue collection boxes. USPS will also replace 49,000 antiquated arrow locks with electronic locks to address an increase in letter carrier robberies nationwide where criminals are targeting letter carriers for their keys that are used to steal mail from secure mail receptacles.

(Reporting by David Shepardson)