Town Square Homeowners

Mail Theft and Fraud Alert - Brian Gorden

Sep 06, 2001

After reading the article in the August newsletter about one of our neighbors who has material stolen from their car in broad daylight, I thought I would share some information. I have been doing a contract technical writing job for a major credit card issuer for the last 10 months. One of my primary duties is to update the Security and Fraud manual. I have learned more than any decent person should know about, not only credit card fraud, but also counterfeiting, identity theft, and mail theft. All kinds of fraud are rampant not only in the United States, but also everywhere on the globe. Financial institutions write off billions of dollars every year due to fraud.
We have had several articles in the newsletter about neighbors who have had mail stolen from their mailboxes, yet I drive down the street and see the little red flags beckoning the criminals to help themselves. I?’ll share some interesting facts about Phoenix and mail theft. Twenty-five percent (25%) of all mail theft for the entire United States occurs in Phoenix. What?’s the reason? Phoenix has a terrible methamphetamine problem and the ?“crime of choice?” for meth users is mail theft. They are typically looking for checks that can be ?“washed?”. They then fill in a new dollar amount and proceed to clean out your checking account. ALL outgoing mail should be taken to a mail drop box or directly to the Post Office. I personally have started paying all bills over the Internet (all banks, credit card companies, etc. now have online bill paying features for the price of what you spend on postage in a month). No way, no how do I send a check through the postal service! I check my credit card balances and checking balances (on the Internet) weekly to make sure all charges are legitimate. For a nominal fee, I get copies of
my credit report from all major credit reporting bureaus two to three times a year. If you think this is too much trouble, try spending a year (or more) getting your credit straightened out after you?’ve been a victim of fraud.
As for the folks who had their car burglarized, good luck. If you had your car registration and insurance card in your glove compartment, you have just become the newest victim of identity theft. With the information on those two documents, criminals can open credit card accounts, purchase cars, homes, jewelry, take vacations and generally have a pretty good time and it will all end up on your credit report. It?’s a sad commentary on our society, but using some common sense can lower your chances of being a fraud victim.