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ISSUE 21.13 • 2024-03-25 ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley If you live in the United States, the ideal time to steal items from a mailbox is from early Mar
[See the full post at: Tax season — time to steal your refunds!]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
You would think so, but apparently not. I overheard a conversation at the post office in which a postal worker recommended not using USPS drop boxes. He said their locks all use the same key. I did a little research and found this Office of the Inspector General report on drop box key management controls; it’s not great.
https://www.uspsoig.gov/reports/audit-reports/arrow-key-management-controls
There’s more:
1) During the COVID quarantine I had to temporarily move to a relative’s house so used the Post Office mail forward service. Fortunately, I also had “What’s in the Mail” service and soon discovered all of my “financial” type mail was disappearing. I reported it in “missing mail” and to the Postmaster General and the FBI.
2) I have had several Certified Mails disappear over the years. One lady in the Post Office line was yelling at the clerk because her important Certified Mail was still missing after 7 weeks. I would suggest using “Registered Mail” as they seal it at the post office, and I think it travels in a padlocked box but does cost more.
3) Your local sorter and delivery carrier can be a weak link. I have had many truly wonderful delivery carriers that always recheck the address before placing the mail in the box, but one time we had one sorter or carrier that apparently could not read numbers so placed every piece of mail in the area one number address off by one. Honest neighbors return the mail but a few might either throw it away or open it to see what the neighbor is getting in the mail.
At least you had the decency to try to return the mail or get it to the right person. A neighbor of ours routinely had her mail delivered to a house with the same number – different street. When she finally tried to track down a missing package and went to that house, the homeowner handed her the package along with a bag of mail that had been miss delivered. No attempt to correct the situation or return it to the PO. Just kept it! What the heck???
QUOTE:
“If you plan to mail something sensitive to a government agency, do so the old-fashioned way — mail it certified with a return receipt. It is the ultimate way to receive verification of delivery and provides undeniable proof that you sent the item and that it was received by the addressee. You’ll need to visit the post office in order to obtain the needed postcard . . . ”
Susan,
As usual, great suggestions. I agree with every one of them . . . save one. That is one where you suggest the use of USPS Certified Mail. The USPS does NOT guarantee delivery of Certified Mail! Ask your postmaster, not the desk clerk, as they may not know. I learned that the hard way years ago when I sent a legal document using CM with a Return Receipt. After receiving notification from the opposing attorney that my response was never received, I contacted the Postmaster of the PO where I sent the letter displaying my paid receipt. He said that the letter had been lost. He very clearly told me that the USPS does NOT guarantee delivery of Certified Mail. I then asked; “Then just what service am I receiving when I purchase CM Delivery?” I had to really press him for his answer, which, after a long pause, was; “Nothing, I guess.”
Another failure of CM, is, in the past twenty or so years, I have had a number CM letters, along with the attached Return Receipt card placed directly into my PO Box. (My guess is that you, too, have had this experience.) Of course, in each case, I marched directly to the PO Desk and delivered the signed Return Receipt card to the clerk. Yeah, right! So much for proof of delivery for the sender.
Fortunately, there is another option, USPS Registered Mail. Expensive and the PO employees hate it because every person that touches that piece of mail is required to sign for it and every night that piece of mail must be stored under lock and key . . . and delivery IS guaranteed! That is the only delivery method that I will use for mailing anything to the IRS. Yes, there are other delivery methods, Fedex and UPS. I have accounts with both, and use them both weekly, but USPS REGISTERED Mail is more secure than either of them.
Anyway, I had to mention this. As I mentioned, check it out with the Postmaster.
Keep up the good work. I have been a subscriber since the beginning with Woody and Fred and wouldn’t be without it and recommend it to any serious computer person.
Thanks!
Montana Bob
Susan,
My Mom came up with a great low tech solution 40 years ago…..
No battery, no PC…All you need is a window to see if the mailman has come.
A golfball, a couple nuts, washers and the U shaped bolt (I think that one used to hold the antenna mast to the side of the house) and a piece of string.
Kevin
I can hear the little mail truck that comes around to my mailbox because its exhaust system is just loud enough to make it heard. If the USPD gives in to pressure to go with electric mail delivery vehicles, I won’t have that nice convenience.
I don’t write a lot of paper checks. Occasionally, I need one. My stock had run low so I ordered a new box of checks through my bank’s website. I promptly forgot about the order, thinking I would receive the checks in a week or ten days.
I never received the checks. About three weeks later, checks started clearing my account with numbers in the range of the new checks ordered. All were written for amounts less than $500, probably because anything over $499 is a felony in my state.
There was no indication that the mailbox (one of those kiosks at the end of the block) had been jimmied. The checks simply never arrived from the printing company.
While I was ultimately reimbursed by the bank, the theft created huge administrative hassles. A stop-pay was placed on all 200 checks that had been included in the new order. I had to monitor the old account daily until all outstanding payments had cleared. The old account was then closed. I had to open a new checking account and notify all entities (including the IRS) performing direct deposits or withdrawals that my account information had changed.
Who stole the checks, or how they were stolen, has never been determined. I do everything electronically with the IRS, but theft of physical checks compromised that payment method. My guesses (completely unprovable) are (a) the checks were delivered to an unscrupulous neighbor’s mailbox; (b) the checks were stolen by the letter carrier or another postal employee; or (c) the checks were stolen at the printing company before mailing.
I still have an occasional need for paper checks. Absent the ability physically to pick them up at the printing company, I have no idea how to prevent this kind of theft in the future.
On a related note, one thing that amazes me is that every US Social Security recipient receives an annual 1099 in the USPS mail, that includes the FULL Social Security number (i.e., no digits masked). And you cannot opt out of this mailed 1099, even if you have set up an online account with the Social Security Administration, and access all your other SS statements and notices online. To make matters worse, it isn’t even sent in an envelope. Instead, it’s sent as one of those thin-paper, tear-prone, multi-page fold-over jobs with perforations on the side. And of course it shows the recipient’s name, address and how much Social Security they received in the prior year. What an invitation to identity theft or scams!
or (c) the checks were stolen at the printing company before mailing.
I was a victim of credit card fraud. Similar to you, I applied for a Discover card by mail. I never received the card. Then, a couple of weeks later, I get a call from the Discover fraud department asking if I approved of a purchase. The guy was adamant it was me making the purchase, even though it was in person in another state WHILE he was taking to me on the phone.
Bottom line, the belief was that it was an inside job, but it had to be reported to the US Postal service so that THEY could go after the Discover employee, since they were afraid to accuse or investigate one of their own.
Of course, the bad actors had everything on my application, including my Social and my Mother’s maiden name. So, I changed my address and zip to a PO Box twice in one year, since it was the only piece of information I could change. This worked.
Concerning the spamming – I always notice a large increase in spam right after I give my email address to someplace that promises not to sell it. Recently this has included health care centers! It was a big mistake signing into Walmart’s website once – I got clobbered with spam for months.
Don’t Phall for Phishing.
I use checks that I get from my bank and write them out with the Uniball 207 pen. I don’t sign my signature with the Uniball pen though, I sign it with a regular ball point pen. If someone tries to wipe the check, the signature will be sure to go, but hopefully nothing else.
You can be as careful as you wish but you cannot eliminate the identity theft issues created by data breaches. They screwed up and we have to clean up the mess, if possible. And it doesn’t seem like there are any real consequences for anyone except the victimized consumers.
If you haven’t already done it, contact your local Postmaster in charge of your zip code and if that doesn’t work, contact your Federal Senator. Tell them about this, it’s not right that you don’t get postal delivery.
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