U.S. Secret Service Warns ID Thieves are Abusing USPS’s Mail Scanning Service
Summary: The U.S. Secret Service sent an internal alert on Nov. 6 to law enforcement partners nationwide warning that many of its field offices have reported criminals using USPS's Informed Delivery mail-scanning service to commit identity theft and credit card fraud. The alert cites a Michigan case in which seven people were arrested in September 2018 for allegedly using the service to identify and intercept mail and run up nearly $400,000 in unauthorized charges on cards ordered in residents' names.
Key Takeaway: Informed Delivery validates new accounts through Equifax-chosen knowledge-based authentication questions, and Krebs reports that some readers with credit freezes in place were still able to be signed up, while the USPS processes roughly 20,000 new registrations a day and deletes those it believes may be fraudulent. The Secret Service also observed fraudsters on criminal forums discussing use of the service to surveil potential identity theft victims.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
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