New York City – Changing one’s address is a process that millions of Americans do every year at their neighborhood Post Office, but it’s also a simple way for criminals to steal personal and financial information, Representative Anthony D. Weiner (D – Brooklyn and Queens), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said today.
Weiner, along with City Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. (D – Queens), chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, and State Senator Jeff Klei1`n (D – Bronx), Deputy Democratic Leader of the New York State Senate, released a series of cases where criminals used a loophole in the “Change of Address” (COA) process to access bank accounts, credit cards, and social security numbers of unknowing victims.
The major loophole in the COA process is that while United States Postal Service (USPS) sends a confirmation letter to the individual at the original and new address, they do not require the original addressee to return the signed confirmation letter before rerouting the mail. If the USPS’ confirmation letter is thrown out, misplaced, or simply ignored, USPS changes the address.
While USPS does not specifically track COA identity theft, 166,000 Americans had their identities stolen through mail fraud out of the total of 8.3 million Americans who had their identities stolen in 2005.
Among the cases of COA identity theft are:
*A Bronx resident filed COA forms to steal the social security number and $3,500 from an Astoria woman. When Post Office notified the Astoria woman that her address had been changed, she explained that it was wrong. The Post Office didn’t change it for 20 days.
*An Illinois man filed COA forms for people who had recently died, stole their financial information, and added himself as a secondary user to their credit card accounts, taking out a $5,000 cash advance. (State Journal-Register, 2/22/07)
*A North Carolina woman filed a COA form for her deceased uncle and was able to access his financial information and make a series of purchases. Reports did not include how much was stolen. (Charlotte Observer, 8/29/07)
*An ex-convict in Chicago used a COA form to buy nearly $550 in jewelry and clothes, rent a car, and purchase nine cell phones under the name of a Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney. The ex-convict was finally arrested at a Neiman Marcus with the U.S. Attorney’s credit card. (Chicago Tribune, 9/20/06)
Rep. Weiner announced common sense legislation that will require the USPS to receive a signed confirmation from the original addressee before initiating a COA submission.
Rep. Weiner said, “The postal service is ignoring the security system they have in place to protect people’s identity. It’s time we seal shut this open door to identity theft.”
“No matter how careful you are to protect your identity, your mail is where you are most vulnerable,” Vallone, who brought attention to this loophole when a constituent of his had her identity stolen, said. “In a high tech age, the Post Office is failing to protect against the simplest of low tech scams.”
“For too long, Post Office “Change of Address” forms have been used to help hijack consumers’ identities without their knowledge. Consumers deserve a meaningful opportunity to confirm their intentions and detect any wrongdoing,” said Senator Klein who sponsored state legislation requiring consumers to be notified whenever the security of their stored personal information is compromised. Klein will be introducing a resolution in the State Senate in support of the Congressman’s legislation.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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One Response
Weiner’s solution makes no sense, as many people submit the COA form right before they move, or even after they’ve already moved. Now they want to send a confirmation letter to be signed – to the old address.
What about this solution:
1) The resident fills out the COA form with the date of transfer
2) If the date of transfer is more than 30 days away, they receive a confirmation letter and must either sign it and send back, OR bring it into the post office, OR fill out a form online with a code that’s in the letter.
3) If the date of transfer is less than 30 days away, the resident must bring the COA form back to the post office and show photo ID in order to transfer the address.