Mail Fraud And Identity Theft Reported On 42nd Avenue NE

The Laurelhurst Blog received this email from a neighbor living on 42nd Avenue NE:

 

We had someone put a fraudulent hold on our mail Thanksgiving week so we didn’t notice our mail was stopped until several packages went missing. We thought the packages were stolen off our door step. 

It turns out that someone did identity theft and applied for numerous credit cards and put a hold on our mail, in hopes of retrieving the credit card at the post office. Luckily we figured it out and picked up our mail and canceled the card before it was used.  

I would like to make you all aware of the link in case you suddenly stop receiving mail, make sure you check your credit and head to the post office. We would have never made the connection with the mail hold but luckily one of the credit cards arrived by FedEx and we were able to cancel it before any charges were issued.  

When I collected the mail, I had 4 more credit card applications, luckily all denied, because we had a lock on our credit.  

It is easy to put a hold on mail with the USPS online and it is not traceable. The criminal would need an ID to pick up the mail but my guess is given that the criminal was able to have a credit card issued, a fake ID was probably the next step. Very scary.  

My guess is that the criminal lives in our area.  I wanted to let you know to make sure everyone is aware and able to respond quickly if you end up in a similar situation.