Postal Service Launches National Consumer Protection Week Press Conference

Theme: “Don’t Fall For a Fake Check Scam”

What:
Postal Service officials will host a press conference to celebrate National Consumer Protection Week. Officials will distribute DVDs and brochures warning against fraudulent financial schemes, providing consumers with valuable information about protecting their assets from the schemes as well as ways to report suspected financial fraud.

Who:
Yulanda Burns, U.S. Postal Inspector/Public Information Officer, Atlanta Division. Inspector Burns will empower consumers to watch out for these and other scenarios in their business and personal affairs.

Kelvin Collins, President and CEO, Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia. Mr. Collins will increase Americans’ awareness about fraudulent financial schemes.

Ben Hamrick and Amy Yates, local area residents. Mr. Hamrick and Ms. Yates are recent victims of fake check scams. They will share their story in order to assist others combat this type of fraud.

When:
10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, March 4

Where:
Macon Post Office, 451 College Street, Macon, GA
Room 130 for I.D. badge and escort; Press Conference in Room 208

Background:
National Consumer Protection Week, set for March 2-8, is a national program led by the Federal Trade Commission to draw attention to issues and ideas that help customers become smarter consumers of products, materials and services and improve their knowledge of how to combat fraud of any type.

The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are working to educate consumers about fraudulent schemes and to provide them with the tools and information needed to combat these “fake check” frauds.

The facts are telling: According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the number of reported fake checks is increasing, from an average of 593 per month in 2004 to an average of 787 per month in 2007. The amount of reported losses from fake check scams has also quadrupled over the past three years. According to the National Consumers League, victims lose an average $3,000 to $4,000.

The Postal Service will point customers to the website established by the Postal Inspection Service and its business partners, www.FakeChecks.org.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.