This is serious.

[Fishing Rhino]

I received two monthly notices from Silverscript.  On is a running list of med payments, the second is the monthly bill.  My wife and I have always received them on the same day, without fail.  However mine arrived and my wife's did not.

 

She called Silverscript and was informed that they had been sent out on the same day.

 

My wife, smelling a rat went to the Post Office and was told that she had requested her mail to be forwarded to a different address. 

 

You too can request that someone else's mail be forwarded to another address.  In this case, my wife's mail was being forwarded to an address in Flushing NY.  All you need to do is pay the nominal fee, I think it's a dollar, and say that you are the person, or an authorized agent.  That's it.  There is also a notice that if you are not that person or their agent, you can be convicted of mail fraud.  Of course, that means they have to catch you.

 

So, why would they want your mail.  Maybe because it may contain a credit card statement, or a statement from an investment service that you do business with.  Or all sorts of information that can be converted into cash.

 

Here's a kicker, when your address is changed/forwarded, it happens immediately.  You can show up at the post office with all manner of identification and a contingent of the National Guard, and it can take up to two business days to get the matter corrected.

 

My wife was told to report it to the police department.  When she did, she was told by the officer who was handling this matter that this was the first time he had heard of this scam.

 

You don't need to reply to a phishing scheme or some other scam.  This is easily done because the Post Office makes it easy to do.  

 

I wonder how long it will take them to close this wide open breach of security.

 

 

[A-Jay]

51 minutes ago, Fishing Rhino said:

I received two monthly notices from Silverscript.  On is a running list of med payments, the second is the monthly bill.  My wife and I have always received them on the same day, without fail.  However mine arrived and my wife's did not.

 

She called Silverscript and was informed that they had been sent out on the same day.

 

My wife, smelling a rat went to the Post Office and was told that she had requested her mail to be forwarded to a different address. 

 

You too can request that someone else's mail be forwarded to another address.  In this case, my wife's mail was being forwarded to an address in Flushing NY.  All you need to do is pay the nominal fee, I think it's a dollar, and say that you are the person, or an authorized agent.  That's it.  There is also a notice that if you are not that person or their agent, you can be convicted of mail fraud.  Of course, that means they have to catch you.

 

So, why would they want your mail.  Maybe because it may contain a credit card statement, or a statement from an investment service that you do business with.  Or all sorts of information that can be converted into cash.

 

Here's a kicker, when your address is changed/forwarded, it happens immediately.  You can show up at the post office with all manner of identification and a contingent of the National Guard, and it can take up to two business days to get the matter corrected.

 

My wife was told to report it to the police department.  When she did, she was told by the officer who was handling this matter that this was the first time he had heard of this scam.

 

You don't need to reply to a phishing scheme or some other scam.  This is easily done because the Post Office makes it easy to do.  

 

I wonder how long it will take them to close this wide open breach of security.

 

 

 Until it happens to the human in charge of making the decision to change it (or an immediate family member), it could be a while.

Thanks for the heads up.

A-Jay

[deaknh03]

nothing the post office does is immediate, so kudos to them for at least doing the forwarding thing immediately...unfortunately its the wrong service to do that for.

[lonnie g]

I worked for the postal system for over 30 years. they should have also reported it to the postal inspectors. those guys carry a lot of weight. more so than your local pd. if scammers actually worked at a job as hard as they try to cheat some one else out of something, they probably would get rich .

[Al Wolbach]

28 minutes ago, lonnie g said:

I worked for the postal system for over 30 years. they should have also reported it to the postal inspectors. those guys carry a lot of weight. more so than your local pd. if scammers actually worked at a job as hard as they try to cheat some one else out of something, they probably would get rich .

 

I am retired from the USPS as well. The Postal Inspectors can catch them easily by just following the mail, however a conviction is another matter. The local police are nearly unless in a matter like this. I would suggest you contact the inspectors. Actually a supervisor from your local post office should have done this for you, and may have.

22 hours ago, Fishing Rhino said:

I received two monthly notices from Silverscript.  On is a running list of med payments, the second is the monthly bill.  My wife and I have always received them on the same day, without fail.  However mine arrived and my wife's did not.

 

She called Silverscript and was informed that they had been sent out on the same day.

 

My wife, smelling a rat went to the Post Office and was told that she had requested her mail to be forwarded to a different address. 

 

You too can request that someone else's mail be forwarded to another address.  In this case, my wife's mail was being forwarded to an address in Flushing NY.  All you need to do is pay the nominal fee, I think it's a dollar, and say that you are the person, or an authorized agent.  That's it.  There is also a notice that if you are not that person or their agent, you can be convicted of mail fraud.  Of course, that means they have to catch you.

 

So, why would they want your mail.  Maybe because it may contain a credit card statement, or a statement from an investment service that you do business with.  Or all sorts of information that can be converted into cash.

 

Here's a kicker, when your address is changed/forwarded, it happens immediately.  You can show up at the post office with all manner of identification and a contingent of the National Guard, and it can take up to two business days to get the matter corrected.

 

My wife was told to report it to the police department.  When she did, she was told by the officer who was handling this matter that this was the first time he had heard of this scam.

 

You don't need to reply to a phishing scheme or some other scam.  This is easily done because the Post Office makes it easy to do.  

 

I wonder how long it will take them to close this wide open breach of security.

 

 

 The forwarding system is very complicated, not nearly as simple as stated here. Once a piece of mail has left a local office(forwarded) it is difficult for anyone to reach out and pick up. The system was set up to make it easy for customers, unfortunately this also makes it easy for scammers. The forwarding date is also determined by the customer, not immediately in most cases.

Your wife should have been able to cancel the forwarding order immediately at your local office and any mail still there returned. Almost no mail is left in a local office over night as rules require it be sent somewhere in the system. The Postal Inspectors are very good at what they do and should be able to catch these folks easily. I would suggest you contact your local office, they should have notified the inspectors.

[Fishing Rhino]

She has contacted the local post office and spoke with the supervisor at length.  They have started a mail fraud case, but my wife was told that they could not rescind the new address/forwarding address.  It will take two working days, and someone from the fraud division will contact my wife on Tuesday.

 

I went to the USPS web site and this is what I found regarding change of address or forwarding address.

 

Anyone can do it as long as they are willing to lie.  

 

"Note: The person who prepares this form states that he or she is the person, executor, guardian, authorized officer, or agent of the person for whom mail would be forwarded under this order. Anyone submitting false or inaccurate information on this form is subject to punishment by fine or imprisonment or both under Sections 2, 1001, 1702 and 1708 of Title 18, United States Code."

 

That certainly won't deter someone who wants to steal your identity to tap into your savings account or max out your credit card(s).

 

It only takes minutes to fill out the form.  Don't need to go to the Post Office.  You can do it from home, or a hotel room, or while having dinner as long as the joint has wi fi.

 

[Sam]

Thanks.

 

New scam I have never heard about.

 

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.