Postal Service Launches South Carolina Financial Literacy Day For National Consumer Protection Week

“Don’t Fall For a Fake Check Scam”

What:
Postal Service officials will host three simultaneous press conferences and eight informational booths throughout South Carolina 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. Sensitive document shredding trucks will provide free personal shredding services for customers at the Columbia (Shred360), Greer (Shred-it) and Charleston (Iron Mountain) events. This is a $60 value! Load your trunk and come on down!

Who:
Jack Galvin, Lead Postal Inspector, and the SC/U. S. Postal Inspectors team

Columbia Event:
Rhonda Walker, South Carolina Postal Inspector, Cindy Liebes, SE Regional Director, Federal Trade Commission, Thomas R. Metz, FBI, Kevin McDonald, U. S. Attorney, Brandolyn Thomas Pinkston and Alice Brooks, SC Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Jim Camp, Better Business Bureau, Dottie Cronise, SC Law Enforcement Victims Advocate, Suzette Adams-Jenkins, USPS Manager Consumer Affairs, Greater SC District

When:
Press Conference-Noon
Informational Booth 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sensitive document shredding service: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Monday, March 3, 2008

Where:
Columbia Main Post Office, 1601 Assembly St. Cola., SC 29201
Greer Post Office, 504 Pennsylvania Av. Greer, SC 29650
Cross County Post Office, 7075 Cross County Rd. Charleston, SC 29423

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.

Additional Informational Booth Events, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.:

Spartanburg Main Post Office, 250 Church St. Spartanburg, SC 29301, March 7th
Florence Post Office 1901 W. Evans St. Florence, SC, March 4th,
Myrtle Beach Main Post Office, 505 N. Kings Hwy. Myrtle Beach, SC 29577, March 6th
Lexington Post Office, 1830 S. Lake Dr. Lexington, SC 29072, March 7th
Sumter Post Office, 311 N. Main St. Sumter, SC 29150, March 5th

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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.