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  Geebo 9:00 am on January 9, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: change of address, mail fraud ( 21 ), mail theft ( 11 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), USPS ( 13 )   

  Scam steals your mail without coming to your home 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Previously, we’ve discussed scams that involve stealing your mail from your mailbox. Check washing is a major problem with that. Scammers steal mail for a number of reasons, but mostly for identity theft reasons. Even junk mail can open an avenue into your personal information to scammers. However, there are some scammers who don’t even need to go to your home to steal your mail.

  The state of Wisconsin is warning its residents to be aware if they stop receiving mail at their homes. Scammers there are said to be using USPS’ change of address options to have victims’ mail delivered straight to the scammers. . Just about anyone can go to the post office and change someone’s mailing address.

  When someone does fill out a change of address form, the USPS sends a confirmation letter to the old address letting residents know that their mailing address is about to change. While you can check your mailbox every day, a lot of us aren’t home during the day, and scammers have been known to stalk their victims’ mailboxes and take what they need, this could include the confirmation letter.

  However, if you do receive the confirmation letter, and you haven’t changed your address, go to the post office immediately and report it.

  A good way to protect yourself from this scam is to switch to paperless banking and bills. Another good way is to sign up for the USPS’s Informed Delivery service. It’s free, and every day you receive postal mail, you’ll receive an email with pictures of your scanned mail letting you know what to expect in that day’s mail. That way, you can see if a change of address letter has been sent to you before someone can take it from your mailbox.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on December 1, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: change of address, identity theft ( 105 ), mail fraud ( 21 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), USPS ( 13 )   

  USPS warns about ongoing change of address scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Have you ever walked into a post office, saw the change of address forms, and wondered what’s stopping someone from changing my address and receiving all my mail? As it turns out, there’s not a lot stopping someone from doing just that.

  The United States Postal Service has issued a warning about such a scam that appears to be ramping up just in time for the holidays. Just about anyone can go to the post office or the USPS website and change anyone’s mailing address. This time of year, the scammers could be receiving money and gifts meant for the holidays. For the rest of the year, the scammers could be gaining access to your personal and financial information to use for identity theft. Keep in mind that the USPS forwards mail to a new address for a year. That means, potentially, scammers and identity thieves could receive your mail for an entire year. Unfortunately, the USPS does not have many safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.

  When someone does fill out a change of address form, the USPS sends a confirmation letter to the old address letting residents know that their mailing address is about to change. While you can check your mailbox every day, a lot of us aren’t home during the day, and scammers have been known to stalk their victims’ mailboxes and take what they need from the mailbox. If you haven’t received mail for an in ordinate amount of time, you should report that to the USPS right away.

  A good way to possibly protect yourself from such fraud is to sign up for the USPS’s Informed Delivery service. It’s free, and every day you receive postal mail, you’ll receive an email with pictures of your scanned mail letting you know what to expect in that day’s mail. That way, you can see if a change of address letter has been sent to you before someone can take it from your mailbox.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on June 30, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: change of address, Scams ( 1,354 ), text messaging ( 36 ), USPS ( 13 ), vehicle history reports   

  Three new scams to watch out for 

  

  We just recently came across three new scams that we hadn’t heard of before. While we’re not the ultimate authority on scams, we have been keeping our eyes on scams for a long time now.

  The first scam we have for you today involves change of address forms. If you’re moving soon you’ll have to notify the U.S. Postal Service of your new address. You can do this at your local Post Office or online. If you’re going to complete your change of address online make sure that you’re only using the official USPS website. If you were to do a web search for ‘address change’ it may direct you to a website that has no affiliation with the USPS. Instead, if you enter your information on the non-USPS site you could potentially be giving your information to identity thieves. Also, a change of address with the USPS is free. If a site tries to charge you for this, it’s definitely a scam.

  In our next scam, the Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about receiving a text message that says you’ve been overcharged. The texts try to appear as if they’re coming from your bank, your credit card company, or somewhere you shop often. The scammers will then tell you that they need more information to process your ‘refund’ like your mother’s maiden name or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. These are actually answers to security questions used to access your online accounts. If you receive a text or call asking for this information do not answer them. Instead, call your bank directly to make sure that your accounts are in order.

  Lastly for today, if you’re looking to sell your vehicle online, you’ll often be asked to provide a vehicle history report for the vehicle. The most commonly used vehicle history reports are Carfax and AutoCheck. Some car sellers have reported that they’ve been getting messages from people posing as interested customers asking for vehicle history reports that they’ve never heard of before. The scammers will then direct the sellers to a certain website. These websites are mostly designed to try to get your money for a bogus car history or could be used for identity theft or infect your device with malware. As a seller, you’re not required to provide a vehicle history from a specified website. The ones that we’ve already mentioned are not only legitimate but should satisfy most legitimate buyers.