Criminals are constantly coming up with new ways to scam and steal. We have to continue to work together to keep ourselves alert and informed.
Here are some of the latest concerns that Postal Inspector Tony Robinson wants us to be aware of:
I. Be on the lookout for customers who are attempting to purchase unusually large amounts of stamps.
In this swindle, which has been making the rounds across Alabama as the criminals move from state to state, the scammers buy LOTS of stamps using fake cashier's checks, business checks, or money orders. By the time their fraud become obvious, they are long gone, free to pawn off the stamps wherever they can.
So far, this has been attempted at the Prattville and Tuskeegee Post Offices.
At Tuskeegee, the Postmaster told the (seeming) customer, "We don't keep that many stamps here."
In Prattville, however, the scheme was foiled because the Postmaster alerted postal inspectors when the request for so many stamps seemed fishy. Because of his quick thinking, one of the perpetrators was apprehended.
In North Carolina, the scam was much more elaborately constructed. A lot of time was devoted before the crime to establish phony personnas and involve innocent middlemen. To make the story easier to follow, we'll put the innocent in green and the scammers in red. The plot went something like this:
A supposed businessman came into the post office and said, "“My company has a rush mass mailing going out, and to finish it up, we need about $10,000 worth of priority stamps." The Postmaster didn't have that many available but agreed to order more.
When the stamps came in, the Postmaster called the businessman, who said, "I’m getting ready to go out of town, but I’ll send over my associate with a check and a letter of appreciation for your boss.”
At this point, the businessman contacted a legitimate courier service, gave them his address (it wasn't his address, of course, but was instead the address of another legitimate business), and requested that the courier pick up the check, deliver it to the Post Office, and return with the stamps.
When the courier arrived at the business address he had been given, meeting him in front of the building was the "secretary" (aka scammer's girlfriend). "I'm on my way to lunch right now, but here's the check for the Postal Service and the letter of appreciation that was promised."
The courier delivered the check and letter to the Postmaster, who had been expecting it to arrive. The courier signed for the package of stamps and delivered them back to the secretary, who once again happened to be out in front of the building ("Just getting back from lunch," she had said).
Can you guess what happened next?
Here are some tips about avoiding being duped in this way:
1) If a customer requests an unsually large amount of stamps, suggest to him or her that there are other, more cost-effective ways of paying postage for a mass mailing. If their business is indeed a legitimate one, they will want to save as much money as they can.
2) Postmasters and managers, if you have a doubt about the legitimacy of a company, have your carriers go and check them out by stopping by the address you were given.
II. Letter carriers: avoid leaving mail visible in your vehicles.
This especially applies to rural carriers, who don't have cages in the back. More frequently, criminals are breaking into postal vehicles any way that they can to steal mail.
To help secure the mail, please keep a towel or blanket handy with which to cover your mail. Yes, they will still know that there is something under the drapery, but they won't know what exactly it is. A stack of credit card mail or birthday cards that they can see through the window is certainly more tempting than causing damage to a federal vehicle for the risk of the unknown.
