(WFSB) – The I-Team is uncovering a shockingly easy scam that opens all of us up to identity theft or fraud.
It’s centered around the postal service’s “Change of Address” forms.
Chief investigative reporter Matthew Campbell shows how thieves exploited it to get a Waterbury woman’s mail and how they can do it to you.
I’m here on the USPS website.
As long as I have your current address and $1.10, from the comfort of my desk, I can reroute your mail to anywhere else in the United States.
Barbara Veneziano has lived at a Waterbury apartment complex for 21 years.
Life was normal until she stopped getting mail.
“AARP Magazine, the newspaper, nothing was there,” Barbara said.
For two weeks, she’d check her mailbox, and nothing would be inside.
She called the Waterbury post office to investigate.
“Someone changed my address,” Barbara said.
Her bills, medical statements, work related documents, all very private info, was re-routed across the country.
“San Diego, California,” said Barbara.
To this address: 3455 Kearny Villa Road, even though Barbara has no connection to San Diego.
“I was like, ‘oh my God, how did they do that?’” she said.
The answer is shockingly simple.
The postal service wants to make it as easy as possible to change your address when you move.
You fill out your current address, your new address and the date you want your mail to be rerouted.
You pay $1.10, sign a document saying you’re not lying about who you are, and you’re done.
“You pay…
