Earth Class Mail
Fight Identity Theft: Get Your Postal Mail Securely Online
Reduce your chances of being one of the 10 million Americans hit by ID theft annually
Most identity theft happens in one of two ways: either the thieves are in a position to intercept physical paper, such as mail or credit card receipts, or they trick you into entering your personal information online. Our ultra-secure online postal mail helps to solve a large part of the first problem, that of your personal papers being exposed to so many different people out in public.
Letter mail in physical form is, for many thieves, an invitation to steal personal information. To begin with, senders in residential areas often place outgoing mail in an unlocked mailbox -- and then they pull a red-flag lever to notify the Postal Service, and thieves, that mail is now available for the taking. Once the mail enters the mailstream of the U.S. Postal Service, it is subject to dozens of hands touching it -- and to human nature. And what happens if it's delivered to your mailbox?
Identity Theft from Your Mailbox or Trash
Identity Theft from Your P.O. Box
Can You Avoid Getting Hit Sooner or Later?
Identity Theft Prevention with Ultra-Secure Earth Class Mail
Identity Theft from Your Mailbox or Trash
Professional thieves have fine-tuned the practice of hitting the mailboxes of entire neighborhoods. They steal the "arrow" keys of a postal carrier's entire carrier route, and they open dozens of mailboxes at a time. Your mailbox doesn't even look busted into. Of course, smart thieves take only valuable mail and leave the rest behind; that way, you won't even suspect you've been hit. You won't know there's anything to report, and they're free to come again.
After you read your mail (or just throw it in the trash), it's time to discard it. Where does this happen? Once again, on a public street, in your unlocked trash bins -- another favored target of identity thieves and stalkers. The FTC reports that one of the most common methods of ID theft involves thieves stealing your mail, including bank and credit card statements, credit card offers, new checks, and tax information, often through a practice known as dumpster diving.
Identity Theft from Your P.O. Box
P.O. Boxes are relatively secure, but are still not the guarantee many imagine, nor are even U.S. Postal Service employee security measures fool-proof. Just ask yourself why it's a matter of common knowledge not to send cash through traditional mail. Who are we worried will find it there?
Can You Avoid Getting Hit Sooner or Later?
There were 9.9 million cases of ID theft in 2003, according to the USPS Postal Inspection Service. That's one out of every 20 adults in the U.S., per year -- and that means that before 20 years are up, you are highly likely to be next. Not surprisingly, according to the Justice Department "The Postal Inspection Service actively leads 13 Financial Crimes Task Forces/Working Groups in cities across the country."
The average victim of mail ID theft spends 30 hours trying to undo the damage to his credit rating, credit card bills, etc. The negative effects can last over a year, sometimes several years, before being fully resolved.
Identity Theft Prevention with Ultra-Secure Earth Class Mail
The best thing you can do to prevent ID theft from your mailbox or your trash is to make sure all mail that has any confidential personal information in it is directed to, and spends most or all of its lifecycle within, a super-secure facility. You can manage that mail from an iron-clad website. What that means is:
- Most of your mail will be safely shredded or recycled within the same facility
- No mailboxes to steal from
- No dumpsters to dive in
- Your mail will be handled by only one or two employees -- who have security clearances and are on video camera at all times
- When you need to know what's in an envelope, you can have our security workers scan your documents and show them to you, rather than having the paper out in public in any form
At Earth Class Mail, we take mail security very seriously. Read about our industry-leading security measures, created after consultations with the U.S. Postal Service, the FBI, attorneys, and insurers.
Other Prevention Measures
Also follow the U.S. Postal Inspector's advice on protecting your ID from mailbox theft and cybercrime, and on what to do if you suspect your ID has been stolen: http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub280.pdf
And here are some other smart things you can do to keep thieves from stealing your ID:
- The next time you order checks, make sure only your first initial and last name are on them. If someone takes your check book they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name -- but your bank will know.
- Ask your bank for secure checks that can't be altered.
- Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a P.O. Box or Earth Class Mail account, use that instead of your home address.
- Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine; copy both sides of each identity item and credit card. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. (Mail it to your RCM account for storage – in an emergency, you can scan the contents and view them online, or forward ship it to your current location
In the event your identity has been stolen, remember these steps you should take immediately:
- File a police report in the jurisdiction where it was stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one)
- Call the three national credit reporting bureaus immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289 - If the crime involved US Mail, contact your nearest US Postal Inspection Service Office. Locate the nearest office using this link:
http://www.usps.com/ncsc/locators/find-is.html - Contact the FTC Identity Theft Hotline: 1-877-IDTHEFT
Here are some additional tips on maintaining and protecting your security when traveling:
- Carry a photocopy of your passport when you travel abroad.
- To make sure you can always get a copy of your critical identification documents from anywhere in the world (in case your wallet/passport is stolen and you don't have photocopies), we recommend mailing them to yourself at your own Earth Class Mail account, having them scanned archiving the original documents securely in our storage vault. If you ever need to produce them in a hurry, find an internet terminal, log into your Earth Class Mail account, and print them out or request immediate shipment of the original.
- Even if you have an Earth Class Mail account you probably continue to get some mail at home. Place a Vacation Hold with the USPS if you're going to be gone for long.
