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Scammed by USPS? (4 Viewers)

philhut said:
I would imagine an extortion situation where a driver is pressured to stop with their packages somewhere. Persons check the truck and pick what they want. Then later (say next day) the boxes reappear at the same weight in the counterfeit package. Then the items could be sold. For under 100k you could have a scanner tool of some type or they could simply be risking it and replacing the packages with fakes. On the average they could make a profit. In the end the driver gets caught in some issue and is fired. If labels are printed digitally they could easily be copied and printed again, and so on.
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It seems like a lot of work. And the risk is high. I don’t know the penalties off the top of my head, but I think the penalties for stealing from the United States postal service are significant. There have to be easier crimes. And to have multiple people involved in such a high risk treasure hunt? That’s risky.

And all it takes is for a second report of a package full of paper received from the same hub? That’s probably game over.
 
upNdown said:
It seems like a lot of work. And the risk is high. I don’t know the penalties off the top of my head, but I think the penalties for stealing from the United States postal service are significant. There have to be easier crimes. And to have multiple people involved in such a high risk treasure hunt? That’s risky.

And all it takes is for a second report of a package full of paper received from the same hub? That’s probably game over.
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It’s a federal offense, that’s not happening
 
upNdown said:
It seems like a lot of work. And the risk is high. I don’t know the penalties off the top of my head, but I think the penalties for stealing from the United States postal service are significant. There have to be easier crimes. And to have multiple people involved in such a high risk treasure hunt? That’s risky.

And all it takes is for a second report of a package full of paper received from the same hub? That’s probably game over.
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Does seem rather extravagant....I agree

1752892617456.webp
 
I am sorry to hear about this situation and sucks bad for all parties. I really think that we are approaching a point where large purchases over a few thousand really should not be shipped but delivered in person. If I am buying $10k in chips then why not buy a round trip ticket on southwest for a couple hundred bucks to deliver in person, or pick them up? I only lost one package with FedEx and it was only $120 in chips so the $100 insurance mostly covered the cost. But with high value sets, maybe in person is the way to go.
 
Labrat said:
What blows my mind after reading all this is that people trust the USPS with a $5000 transaction. I sweat it when Justin sends me my Tina orders.
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When I’ve shipped very expensive sets I usually break it up into 2-4 packages to mitigate my losses.

Of course the “postal service” magically replacing all of my packages with paper didn’t occur to me.
 
philhut said:
I would imagine an extortion situation where a driver is pressured to stop with their packages somewhere. Persons check the truck and pick what they want. Then later (say next day) the boxes reappear at the same weight in the counterfeit package. Then the items could be sold. For under 100k you could have a scanner tool of some type or they could simply be risking it and replacing the packages with fakes. On the average they could make a profit. In the end the driver gets caught in some issue and is fired. If labels are printed digitally they could easily be copied and printed again, and so on.
Click to expand...
Burnie Burns Conspiracy GIF by Rooster Teeth
 
Tonysquander said:
I’m sticking with the simplest explanation.

Occam’s razor.

If you hear hoofbeats, the simplest explanation is that it's a horse, rather than a complex scenario involving a zebra escaping from a zoo with a monkey on its back shooting nickels out of its ass.
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Someone should AI that one!
 
Innocent or not, spacemonkey made the choice of a normal human to refund (albeit much later than he should have IMO) - but appreciate him coming to the right answer.

That said, don't see it as a sign of innocence personally given community and potential federal investigation pressure (assuming case actually opened), but at this point things are as resolved as they can be between the parties.. so alright.

Deeply hope somehow this was a USPS con that is proven by some level of investigation, but guessing we'll never have a smoking gun here and truth will never fully come out. Shitty.
 
Maybe I'm one of the few left that doesn't think @SpaceMonkey420 is a thief? Regardless, here's a few things to think about:

USPS insurance: Has ANYONE actually collected on USPS insurance for a package that was delivered? I had a half of an empty box show up a few years ago. It was marked delivered. USPS denied the insurance because 'it was delivered'. So maybe they will pay if nothing is received? I figure two boxes with paper in them would be marked as delivered. They will tell @SpaceMonkey420 to pound sand on his insurance claim (assuming he got insurance). Again, insurance is the buyers responsibility, not the seller.

The one time I was actually able to collect on insurance was an international shipment from DHL that was handed off to USPS. Made it to my state, then POOF! Gone! IIRC I got about 75% of the cost on insurance.

I realize when many of us make an impulse buy for multiple thousands of dollars, we're not always wanting to pay more for Fedex or USPS. Even if a package says $2000 shipped (assuming USPS), the buyer has responsibility to offer to pay more for trackable, insurable, reputable shipping. If not, they shouldn't expect a refund even if 'they know' the seller scammed them, even with zero proof.

Luckily I've never had something I sent turn up missing. Still thinking of putting in future for sale ads: If you want USPS, that's on you! I like it because it's convenient and I can print the label (pirate ship) and drop it off at my mailbox place. I still hold my breath that it makes it to the destination without getting stolen or damaged.
 
USPS is adventure. Every time. Used to know a guy that worked there for a while. Theft was rampant. Things disappear, get re-routed, lost etc. It happens all the time, every day. He was brave. Furnished his apartment - couches, TVs, audio, appliances, clothes, electronics, etc. etc. etc. He eventually got busted. No jail time, no probation. You put people in an environment and treat them like ass, they will figure out how to fu#$ you. Sucks. Hope everything works out.
 
pltrgyst said:
I didn't know you could mail a couch. What size Flat Rate Box does that take?

Must be a Texas thing.
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Been quite a while. Pre-Amazon etc. They used to deliver EVERYTHING. The big stuff might have been through couriers.
Everyone on this forum should know I'm a fan of brown :LOL: :laugh: so, I've always tried to avoid USPS.
 
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Tonysquander said:
Used to be able to mail all kinds of stuff

View attachment 1539529
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I do wonder what year that was and how far the baby was going.

Reminds me of something I witnessed around year 2000:

I worked for Caltech at the time and they had their own post office on campus. A student walks in fuming. Apparently he mailed a snake to someone and the post office didn't allow it, sent it back. Figure Caltech students are smart...

He brought in printed copies of laws showing that it is legal to mail livestock. He was a snake breeder and planned to ship snakes often. He had them bring in the manager of the post office. Chewed her out and a few employees and threatened to file a lawsuit if they didn't mail the snake, or gave him any problems in the future.
 
Cratty said:
Innocent or not, spacemonkey made the choice of a normal human to refund (albeit much later than he should have IMO) - but appreciate him coming to the right answer.

That said, don't see it as a sign of innocence personally given community and potential federal investigation pressure (assuming case actually opened), but at this point things are as resolved as they can be between the parties.. so alright.

Deeply hope somehow this was a USPS con that is proven by some level of investigation, but guessing we'll never have a smoking gun here and truth will never fully come out. Shitty.
Click to expand...
This needs to be a Netflix special and some special investigating by dateline crews. No murders involved but still, I want to see what really happened too. Lol
 

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