MILWAUKEE, Wis. – It's an unusual way to seek revenge, but it left one victim with tarnished credit and a table full of magazines. The criminal used the the U.S. Mail and magazine subscriptions.
The fraud victim did not want to be identified but opened up about what happened.
"You don't know why it's happening or who did it to you," she said. "Did we make someone mad, irate that they are trying to get back at us?"
All this woman knows is that she was victimized by someone seeking retribution. She's not even sure what they were angry about.
Derik Thieme is a U.S. Postal Inspector. He explained how the criminal carried this out.
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"He decided he would bombard them with tons of subscriptions and mail order items causing them to receive billing notices and collection notices, things that would negatively affect their credit," he said.
One example, magazine subscriptions. The suspect filled out dozens of forms and checked the bill me later box.
The victims said, "In a given day, five or six at least and this was every day. I mean we had stacks of magazines. We worried about our credit report first."
Thieme added, "What happens is they received these products. They didn't order them but the companies want to hold them responsible for them to pay for them. Once it goes to a collector, that is something that can be reported to a credit agency and bureau and can impact their credit report."
The victim spent days on the phone talking to the companies sending the magazines and merchandise to tell them there was a mistake. Postal inspectors learned this victim and 12 others were targeted by a suspect already known to law enforcement.
The suspect was charged with mail fraud and received eight months in prison with probation.
The victim says she learned a lesson, that she should have called officials right away to report the crime.
"I just hope it never happens again," she said.
One way to catch this kind of crime early, make sure you keep tabs on your credit. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from all three credit agencies once a year. The Better Business Bureau recommends this website, annualcreditreport.com. It has step-by-step instructions and links to all three credit bureaus.
