What Does The Red Mark or Dot On My Mailbox Mean?

Sometimes these things can be chalked up to urban legends, sometimes they are legit. In this case, it's a little of both.

Posts have been circulating on social media talking about how some people have discovered strange red marks or little red dot stickers on their mailboxes, and as a result, people have taken it and ran with it - of course.

Most of the posts you see circulating online say that it's burglars marking houses as they scout neighborhoods during the day. Most investigations of this theory have proven it false.

Some claim the red dot itself is a myth, but in reality... there are indeed some mailboxes that end up getting marked this way by complete strangers.

Related: Mailbox Improvement Week Slated For May, 2026 And They Want Your Help

Those strangers? USPS carriers. In many communities across the country and in Colorado, generally speaking a red dot on a mailbox means that the resident does not want unaddressed junk mail or flyers. In some cases it indicates a hold or stop on mail to that address.

Sometimes it's simply placed there by a newspaper delivery person to indicate a subscriber's home. We didn't have that luxury when I was a paperboy as a kid.

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Every now and again it's one of the neighbor's kids probably having some fun at your expense!

Regardless, if you happen to find a sticker or red mark on your mailbox - or any color for that matter - there's far more likely a valid reason for it than your home being targeted by criminals. Chalk this one up to yet another thing the internet does that drives me insane.