[IRONY] US Postal Service Fosters ID Theft

This makes me wonder if Equifax has actually frozen my file, as requested since 2017, since I recently signed up online for Informed Delivery It has been working fine with no request to go to PO with ID.

The poor postal service. Delivery persons try real hard - despite the incompetencies of USPS upper management. USPS leaders and decision makers can't fix existing system wide problems and seem good at inventing new ones.

I also use the informed delivery and have had no issues so far. I like it because in inclement weather I sometimes don't go to my mail box for days if there is just junk there. There is rarely anything that comes by mail that is important anymore.

I have Informed Delivery and it is especially useful if you use a PO Box as it eliminates some useless trips. However, I have sometimes received the days before AND days after receiving a piece of mail. The "days after" part is the strange part.

How can you tell if you are signed up for the

"Informed Delivery" ?

Thanks Bob for the information. It is very informative. I have an account with the USPS and therefore have access to the informed delivery section. I can say that it may have its flaws, but in general it works fairly good. I have often thought about what can thieves do with my account. But hackers get into any company including government agency's. So when you sign up for a service online, you cross your fingers and hope that nothing happens.
As for showing ID at the PO to get informed delivery, I learned that USPS is a government entity and does not need permission to access any credit agency. So they can go in and access your information, even if you have a credit freeze. I have a credit freeze since 2016 and last year I signed up for Informed Delivery, however, USPS could access my credit info. Here's the link to learn more about it:

http://postalnews.com/blog/2015/05/09/postal-myths-2-the-usps-is-not-a-government-agency/

Thanks again for the scoop on what's going on with "Informed Delivery."

I have informed delivery and have had to report a couple of important pieces of mail missing. When I finally received them, on the front was handwritten "put in wrong mailbox". Our delivery guy is a contractor and not the sharpest tack in the box.

Just get a secure, lockable mail box, or a Post Office box.

based on the description of how the scam works, it seems that the best way to avoid it is to sign up yourself for "Informed Delivery" with your own email address. Then the scammers won't be able to sign up as if they are you at THEIR email address.

Sorry for the multiple posting. When I read the instruction

I've had informed delivery since it was first offered. It's useful especially since my route always has late delivery (after 5:00 pm, sometimes after 6:30, unless the carrier is going on vacation the following day, then it's 3:00 pm).

I've had freezes on all my credit reports for decades, and I didn't have to unfreeze when I signed up for informed delivery.

Have also signed up for UPS and FedEx delivery notices; very useful as if you will not be home, can reroute delivery to a UPS/FedEx store for later pick up.

What I have noticed of late is a LOT of spam email claiming to be from USPS, but close inspection of the sender's email address shows it's bogus, e.g. USPS .

Thanks for the info. I specifically CHOSE NOT to sign up for I.D., but I had a USPS account, so it was "given" to me...I wonder if that means I DIDN'T provide that identifiable information...I don't recall!

I find the information useful even though there have been 3-5 mail pieces so far that we've never received (including a pay check!), and reporting them as missing didn't do anything (as Art F mentioned). I once tried filing an official request for one of those pieces, but I think they only investigate mail that you SEND, not mail missing from your mailbox.

Weighing the pros and cons, I guess I'd rather have the service than not.

Thanks for this article. I too have been getting spam messages from "USPS" and "Fedx". What are the valid email domains for the Informed delivery Services?

I have learned a lot from these posts and from Bob Rankin's comments. I have not signed up for Informed Delivery. I check my mailbox daily, but I don't always check my email daily, so the service probably would not be of much use to me. I guess the service would be of most use if one were expecting important mail.

It's kind of funny. I remember driving up in front of the house, walking down to the mailbox on the corner (one of those multi-box types) and getting my mail every day. Even in light rain. It's part of the ritual of being a person, right? My daughters will have month old mail in the box; I don't get it. Is it hard? I'm retired, living in another country part time, so I don't get much mail now, but when I'm back in the US I stay with my daughter and walk down to the box, every day...

Have had I.D. for a few months. When a piece of mail didn't show up in mailbox for about 4 days I went to PO with printed copy of notification. The clerk (very rude and not at all caring) said:"I only sell stamps." When I followed up about who to contact she said to contact the post office from where piece was sent. Used the "did not receive this piece" on the site and never heard word one from post office. Piece did eventually show up about a week late. It was a card from a relative and I wondered if it might have been toyed with as it might contain money??? Some pieces do show up a day or two late, some packages even before scheduled delivery date.In any event we're satisfied with the service as it does provide a bit of a heads up if important pieces of mail are enroute. Now if only we could get delivery on a consistent time basis. Some days around noon, other days as late as sometime after 7 p.m.

I've had Informed Delivery since it started. My complaint is that, on two different occasions (once early on, the other just last week), the email with images of my mail included a mailpiece for someone else at a completely different (but local) address. Not only is that an invasion of that addressee's privacy, but also if I happened to have criminal intent, I'd know exactly whose house to be lurking by when their mailman dropped an enticing piece. I can't help but wonder if images of MY mail have been sent to someone else. I did notify the Postal Service of this problem the first time it happened, for what it was worth (apparently not much). In any case, I appreciate the info in this article and others' thoughts in the comment thread also.

Just like any other service, it is not without flaws,and yes it can be hacked, just like anything on the internet.
Complaints should be addressed with a supervisor, not a window clerk as they can't look up anything for you as it is restricted access.

I've had Informed Delivery for about a month and appreciate that I know what's coming in the mail. It also tells you when USPS packages will be delivered. I purchased a locking mailbox years ago specifically due to credit card info theft. I have also received several scam email msgs. posing as USPS but it's easy to identify and delete them due to the personal 'from' addresses. There have always been thieves and will always be thieves. I guess they push us to become more clever than they are.

I get 3 emails consecutively as if I signed up for Informed Delivery three times. I just review the images and delete the other 2 emails. Sometimes, I have reviewed the extra emails just to see if there is something different. I have been a victim of ID theft 3 times. It sucks.