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Our mail Maybe a gold mine for criminals, as it can help them get their hands on fairly important things, from our personal information to cold and hard money. The American postal service (USPS) has long warned of the many emails Schemes the crooks could try To be used, including false emails and unlined texts. But now the USPS itself is blamed for a security flaw that could also endanger customers. Read the rest to find out if your mail can be in danger.

Read this then: USPS "holds the mail hostage", say customers in new complaints .

If you plan to move soon, you can apply for a change of address (CO) with the USPS so that your mail is released in your new place. But you may not be the only one to take advantage of it.

A April 2022 report Of the USPS office of the Inspector General (OIG) discovered that fraud surrounding the change of address process of the agency increased significantly. According to the report. This is a leap of 167% compared to 2020, when only 8,857 cases were reported.

Scott Shackelford , Director of the Cybersecurity Program of the University of Indiana, told CBS-Affiliate WTTK in Indianapolis that the increase in ACO fraud Cybercrime increase During the cocovated pandemic.

"I guess what we see in these data is only one aspect of this much greater trend which, unfortunately, has been going on for a few years now," he said.

Tacoma resident Travis Palmer is one of the many who had his address Changed by a crook, Kiro affiliated to CBS in Seattle reported in October 2022. Mother of Travis, Carra Palmer , told the media that the scam had left Travis without some of the vital equipment he needed for his rare metabolic disorder. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"It was a nightmare," said Carra.

A former Microsoft leader was confronted A similar situation Last fall too, Techcrunch reported. The former executive, which was not appointed, told the media that someone had filed a coa form on their name in a post office in November 2022. This fast plan enabled the crooks to access its mail and finances.

In fact, a letter from one of her banks has shown that she had changed fraudulent address in her systems "following data received from the United States Postal Service (USPS) indicating that a change address had occurred, "said Techcrunch.

The former leader of Microsoft told the media that it had taken him for weeks to return his accounts and bring back his correct personal address in the file.

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The USPS processed nearly 36 million COA requests in only 2021, reports the OIG. This can be done by subjecting an online request or by submitting a paper form in person. When you use the Online coa form , customers have to pay security fees.

"For your safety, we must check your identity using a valid credit or debit card. You will be billed $ 1.10 for this service "USPS states on its website.

But an escape can allow the crooks to deposit PS Form 3575 , which is the request for paper, without providing proof of identity. This coa form must be requested in person in a post office, and once someone fills him with his name, his old address, his new address and the duration of his shipment, everything he has To do is to put it back to a postal worker or place it in the mail slit of the installation letters, Techcrunch reported.

If they are not asked to check their identity, there is no paper track, as there are " No cost required "To deposit a change of address at the post office, according to the USPS.

As Techcrunch notes, although there is a warning on the form that the filling of false information could lead to criminal charges, the USPS does not guarantee any assurance that it verifies the identity of the person who filed the co -coated form . Critics say that this is too easily facilitated by the crooks to redirect people's mail, then steal credit cards with bank account information.

Better life Has handed the USPS about the alleged COA fault, but has not yet heard. However, these are not necessarily new concerns.

In a 2018 audit report , the OIG has expressed its concerns concerning the policies of verifying the agency's identity for its COA service. "The postal service has no control obliging customers to present a form of identification issued by the government for examination when submission of a CO CO-copy request in a retail installation or their carriers Letter ", concluded the report.

Following this audit, the spokesperson for the USPS OIG Bill Triplett told Techcrunch that the USPS "provided the documentation demonstrating that sales partners require identification to process the change of address requests in person".

But when asked if the agency really applies this policy, the OIG spokesperson said that "once we climb a recommendation according to the support documentation provided by the postal service, we do not Let's not finish follow -up to check if they continue to implement it. "