Palisadian Reports Mail Fraud

By MAGNOLIA LAFLEUR | Reporter

When Palisadian Larry Schoenberg didn’t receive mail for three weeks, he knew something wasn’t right. Upon nearly discarding a notice that requested confirmation of a change of address—not realizing it was an official letter from the U.S. Postal Service—Schoenberg recognized the importance of the issue at hand.

“I could easily rationalize not taking this seriously and just tossing it with the junk mail,” he told the Palisadian-Post.

Schoenberg eventually realized he was a potential victim of mail fraud and theft, and went to the post office to investigate—only to find out someone had submitted a forwarding address and all of his mail was being sent to a small town in Pennsylvania.

Schoenberg first filed a complaint with the post office and received a complaint number. A few weeks later, he checked on the status of his case and was stressed by the lack of follow up.

“Apparently my complaint together with the complaint number ended up in the ether land,” he said to the Post.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, November 30—weeks after his initial complaint—that the post office was able to create a fraud alert report.

“What is interesting and disconcerting is that it is apparently easy for anyone to fraudulently forward your mail,” Schoenberg said.

To date, Schoenberg has yet to receive anything.

USPS Communications Representative Natashi Garvins told the Post that the holidays are one of the most susceptible times for mail fraud, with approximately 900 million packages being delivered during the month of December, just shy of the one billion packages that were delivered last year.

“Be vigilant, especially because of the holidays and many people, now more than ever, are using e-commerce,” Garvins said. “Do not let your package[s] pile up. If you are out of town, allow your things to be held at the post office.

“We don’t have any specific way to guarantee prevention of mail fraud. Anyone can change someone’s address without validating through ID if they fill out the PS form 3575. The point of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is to work with the U.S. Postal Service in protecting people’s mail.”

She said if anybody finds themselves a victim of a change of address or mail fraud, it is important to let the post office know immediately and if the post office does not respond within three days, calling the local post office may be necessary.

Suspicions of mail theft should be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 or by filing a report online at uspis.gov.