US Secret Service Warns ID Thieves are Abusing USPS's Mail Scanning Service

Brian Krebs reports: A year ago, KrebsOnSecurity warned that 'Informed Delivery,' a new offering from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that lets residents view scanned images of all incoming mail, was likely to be abused by identity thieves and other fraudsters unless the USPS beefed up security around the program and made it easier for people to opt out. This week, the U.S. Secret Service issued an internal alert warning that many of its field offices have reported crooks are indeed using Informed Delivery to commit various identity theft and credit card fraud schemes. The internal alert -- sent by the Secret Service on Nov. 6 to its law enforcement partners nationwide -- references a recent case in Michigan in which seven people were arrested for allegedly stealing credit cards from resident mailboxes after signing up as those victims at the USPS's Web site. According to the Secret Service alert, the accused used the Informed Delivery feature 'to identify and intercept mail, and to further their identity theft fraud schemes.'

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