National Consumer Protection Week Events at Local Area Post Offices

“Don’t Fall For a Fake Check Scam”

What:
The U.S. Postal Service will host several demonstrations in Post Office lobbies throughout the Triangle Area 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:
Postal Inspectors Angela Pollard and Mike Carroll, USPS Consumer Affairs Manager Cathel Brown, and Better Business Bureau official Beverly Baskin.

Where/When:
Clayton Post Office
604 E. Front St.
Clayton, NC 27520
Monday, March 3, 2008 - 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Cary Main Post Office
159 Wrenn Drive
Cary, NC 27511
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Raleigh Post Office - Brentwood Station
2777 Brentwood Rd
Raleigh, NC 27604
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 - 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Durham Post Office – RTP Station
65 T.W. Alexander Drive
Durham, NC 27713
Thursday, March 6, 2008 - 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

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 Office of Consumer Advocate 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.