FYI Postal scam - don't mail gift cards!

[Neal]

Hello all, there is no shortage of scams but this one is a new one to me. My mother was over yesterday and she showed me a picture of an envelope that got returned to her, it was a card sent to a friend with a small gift card within. It appears someone at our local post office is opening envelopes and removing gift cards, etc. So anything with some thickness is probably a target.

Ironically later in the day I got a PM from a member here that I mailed some business cards and RVForums.com cling-on labels. Someone opened the sides of the envelope as it was thicker than normal (with additional postage) and removed the stickers, but left the business cards. Fortunately of very little value but the same thing happened twice in the same day. And yes, my mother's condo and my house share the same post office.

So the lesson here is to reconsider sending anything of value through the USPS and instead email gift cards electronically, or give to people in person.

 

[AbdRahim]

I hope you reported this to the Postmaster.

 

[Neal]

Yes, my mother went to discuss and we have other places to file (IG) but it's just a reminder, gift cards are the same as cash. Use caution.

 

[DennisT]

Same with mail order medications.

Wife had some not show up and, after calling the post office, they said “they were destroyed”. No notes as to why but have a pretty good guess.

I’m sure someone was hoping to get something good when opening those. Once opened they had to throw them away.

 

[Neal]

I'd love to have my mailbox removed and USPS shut down.

 

[Rollin Ollen]

I'd love to have my mailbox removed and USPS shut down.

I have the same sentiment about Canada Post. The service is obsolete. It is not cost effective and very few people use it.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Whenever we are given a choice of mailing service when ordering, we will ALWAYS choose something other than USPS, even if we have to pay double.
Even with our mailing service, when we have mail shipped to us, we always have it sent FedEx though it costs more than USPS.
Sorry to hear about your losses.