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NEW YORK — The U.S. Postal Service vowed to check customers’ IDs to help prevent a massive spike in fraud from identity thieves changing people’s addresses.
But when CBS New York put its postal plan to the test, we found that a loophole still existed.
Investigative reporter Tim McNicholas has been digging into the issue for months.
It’s a big problem because identity thieves are changing peoples’ addresses to intercept sensitive mail, including bank statements, checks, and more. McNicholas wanted to make sure the USPS is really doing all it can to stop that fraud.
With undercover cameras rolling, McNicholas walked into three Manhattan post offices with one question.
In August, McNicholas did drop one of the forms in the mail — the last of the five he submitted throughout the summer. A few days later, his financial records and other sensitive mail started showing up at the address in D.C., hundreds of miles from where he lives. But no one, at any point, checked an ID to verify his identity.
