What Is Mail Fraud?

What Is Mail Fraud?

Mail fraud is the use of postal deliveries to defraud someone. It is a federal crime, and includes criminal misuse of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) or other interstate delivery services such as FedEx, UPS and DHL.

Elements of Mail Fraud

According to U.S. federal statutes, a crime constitutes mail fraud if it meets both of these criteria:

1. Intent to defraud: The criminal must have a plan to deceive and swindle their victim. This could involve efforts to extract money from them directly by tricking them into turning over valuables, gift cards, jewelry or collectibles, or by inducing them to reveal personal information that could be used to steal the victim's identity.
2. Use of mail: The scheme must involve abuse of interstate delivery services, including the USPS and private carriers, and can include the use of that service in one or both of the following ways:
   • Initiating contact with victims: Using the post to deliver come-ons to scams, such as letters falsely claiming there's a problem with a bank account or Social Security benefit. Postcards announcing a phony sweepstakes is one criminal use of mail.
   • Collection of ill-gotten gains: Use of the mail or other interstate delivery services to collect ill-gotten gains—by having a victim send them cash, gift cards, valuables and/or personal information is another potential criminal use of the mail.

Examples of Mail Fraud

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the federal law enforcement agency that investigates mail fraud, notes that scams can take many forms. While anyone is a potential victim, the USPIS notes that many scams target specific demographic groups, such as senior citizens, veterans and job seekers:

• Social Security and Medicare scams: A letter purporting to be from Medicare or the Social Security Administration may claim your benefits have been overpaid and that your bank information is needed to deduct the (nonexistent) overage. These letters can be very convincing, especially since mail is the primary way those agencies communicate with enrollees.
• Bogus charities: Appeals from fictitious charitable organizations that claim to serve a variety of causes (orphans, veterans, abused pets and the like) may paint a convincing picture, but funds they collect go into scammers' pockets.
• False job offers: In this scam, a letter notifies you that you qualify for a high-paying job (perhaps based on your online profile). It claims all you need to do to finalize the hire is make a payment for training materials or a background check, or some kind of licensing process. Another form of this scam invites you to attend an informational meeting about an "employment opportunity" that turns out to be a pitch for a pyramid scheme or other dodgy enterprise with a high buy-in and no certainty of income.
• Money-transfer scams: You may receive mail that includes a sizable (counterfeit) check described as contest winnings, an insurance payout or an inheritance. You'll be asked to deposit a portion of the promised funds the scammers claim is needed to cover legal fees, processing or other administrative costs. The counterfeit check will never clear, and the recipient is held responsible for any withdrawals made against the transferred sum.
• Veterans services scams: Crooked offers of special services or opportunities for veterans, who may be on fixed benefits and inherently trust (legitimate) veteran-support organizations, may promise below-market apartment rentals, "exclusive" investment products and other nonexistent opportunities in exchange for personal information, security deposits, application fees or other upfront payments.
• Phony bills: You may receive a bill and a letter demanding immediate payment for medical services, unpaid taxes, "lapsing insurance coverage" or other services you didn't sign up for and never received. Scammers hope to startle recipients into paying without thinking.

Signs of Mail Fraud

Sophisticated mail fraudsters can be extremely convincing, but there are some tip-offs that could indicate your mail isn't what it appears to be:

• The offers are too good to be true. If you've been notified that you won a prize without entering a contest, offered an impossibly low price on goods or services, or guaranteed a huge return on investment, chances are good the pitch is a scam—no matter how impressive the mailing wrapped around it may be.
• The tone of the letters has an extreme sense of urgency. Mailings that demand acting immediately to avoid missing out or prevent severe consequences may be trying to make you act before you think. Pressure to act now is a classic ingredient of many scams.
• Requests received are asking for an invasive amount of information. Unsolicited mailings that request your Social Security number, account numbers or credit card information may indicate illicit activity. Make sure you understand who you're sending any personal information to, why they need it and how they'll use it.
• You realize pieces of mail are missing. If a replacement credit card, benefit check, bill or account statement you regularly receive fails to show up, someone could be tampering with your mail. Follow up promptly with the source of the mail to let them know. (Mail theft is different from mail fraud, but the crimes can be related and the USPIS investigates both.)

How to Avoid Mail Fraud

Here are some tips for keeping yourself safe from mail fraud.

Double-Check Everything

Scammers are experts at impersonating government agencies, financial institutions, charities and other trusted sources of information. If you receive unexpected mail from an organization you know, or from one you've never heard of that sounds legitimate, check it out before you before you send out money or call to respond to an offer.

• Visit the organization's website. See if the phone number in a mailing matches the ones posted there.
• Search "scam" and the name of the organization. Look online to check for reported instances of abuse or misrepresentation.
• Check your state attorney general's website. This is where you can see if there have been complaints against the organization.

Ask Why Information Is Needed

Questioning the organizations that contact you is good practice, especially if they're asking for information you'd expect them to know already. (Banks and credit card issuers don't need account or card numbers, for instance.) Listen to the responses with a skeptical ear and break contact if anything feels amiss.

Don't Panic

Scammers often use scare tactics in their mailings and when following up via phone or text message. The goal is to induce fear that you're about to lose your Social Security benefits, for example, or that the IRS will seize your bank account. Scammers are hoping to confuse you and make you act without questioning what they're telling you.

Pressure to act immediately is a sure signal that you should step back, take a few deep breaths and reconsider the situation. A legitimate representative of a government agency will not threaten you, and will give you reasonable time to respond to any issue they may have. Get law enforcement involved immediately if scammers threaten violence.

Don't Fall for a Hard Sell

High-pressure sales tactics—golden investment opportunities that won't last, for example—are hallmarks of many mail fraud and related scams. If a postcard or other mailing leads to a sales pitch pressuring you to "act immediately," ask for details in writing and end the conversation.

Scammers will try hard to convince you not to hang up, so prepare to resist them. Role-playing with a friend or family member could help.

Never Pay to Collect

If you've received a financial windfall such as an inheritance, insurance payout or sweepstakes prize, you won't have to pay to collect it. Likewise, legitimate job offers don't require you to pay to get hired.

Beware Irregular Payment Schemes

Legitimate businesses and charities won't require payment using money orders, gift cards or cryptocurrency, so demands of that sort should sound alarms. Conversely, a proposal to use your checking account information to issue a prize, insurance payout or other windfall could be a ploy to clean out your account rather than add to it.

Lock Down Your Credit Reports

You have the right to place fraud alerts, security freezes or credit locks on your credit reports, which can help fend off criminals from using your personal information to create new loan or credit card accounts in your name.

How to Report Mail Fraud

The USPIS' website provides a detailed interactive form you can use to report mail fraud, and furnishes a number of resources for mail-fraud victims and their loved ones, which can help minimize the damage of a scam.

Learn more >> How to Protect Yourself From Mail Fraud

The Bottom Line

Mail fraud encompasses a host of criminal activities that employ postal services to deceive and deprive their victims of money, valuables and/or personal information that can be used for identity theft. If you suspect criminals have tricked you or a loved one into giving up personal information, identity protection from Experian could help you detect efforts to open new loans or credit accounts in your name.