Mail Fraud

Somewhat less glamorous, and certainly lower tech, is identity theft through mail fraud. For some criminals, this can be a case of the time honored methods being the best. Even those who conduct no business over the internet or who never talk to telemarketers still can be victims of identity theft just by opening their mail.

The good part about mail fraud us that the United States Postal Inspection Service reports that people are three times more likely to be victimized by identity theft over the phone or the internet than through the postal system. This is despite the fact that the Postal Service delivers more than 200 billion pieces of mail each year.

Postal Inspectors

Another beneficial aspect of the Postal Service is that it has its own law enforcement branch, the Postal Inspection Service, charged with hunting down and catching those who commit mail fraud. Because using the mail system to commit a crime is a violation of Federal law, postal inspectors have more power and authority to investigate incidences of identity theft than most police agencies.

They also have more experience doing it. Before there was an internet – or nearly universal telephone service for that matter – there was an extensive mail delivery service. Those charged with monitoring it for criminal activity have a long history. In fact, the Postal Inspection Service web site has an entire section devoted to identity theft. Unfortunately, the advice found there is pretty generic and is much the same as can be found on most other sites devoted to the crime.

Forms of Fraud

Everyone with an address receives junk mail. Most people also get unsolicited applications for credit cards and mail pieces from "public opinion research firms." Most of these are legitimate, some are not. People should be very careful what forms they fill out and what information they write down on these forms. Perhaps the most common, and most dangerous, piece of personal information is one's Social Security number.

Although the cards clearly state the number is not to be used for identification, a Social Security number is one of the most common "account numbers" used by a myriad of private and public organizations to identify clients and customers. Another good habit to get into is shredding, or at least tearing up, any junk mail that could be stolen from the trash and used to open fraudulent accounts in the name of the recipient.