The fraud relies on a simple flaw in how the U.S. Postal Service processes changes of address. It’s neither new nor a particularly sophisticated technique, and has long been known to fraudsters and federal investigators. A fraudulently filed change of address form can have lasting fallout for the thousands of individuals whose mail is hijacked and rerouted every year, with criminals able to obtain bills, credit cards and other sensitive information that can be used to raid bank accounts or make fraudulent purchases.
What is more baffling is that there seems to be an equally simple fix. But while USPS acknowledges there is a problem, it wouldn’t say how it plans to close the loophole that allows fraudsters to cash in on someone else’s identity.