Identity theft is still among the fastest growing crimes in America, and there is a new scam out there involving the good name of the United States Post Office.
This latest scam nearly took $1500 from a Galveston County man. He noticed it after checking his debit card statement and now the USPS is investigating the case.
It took Wesley Jackson's wife only a minute to find he had been a victim of identity theft once they looked over their debit card statement.
"She looked at the bank account, and said, 'Hey honey, they have been hitting our bank account on the 18th,'" Jackson said.
Starting August 18, Jackson's account had been charged 38 times by something called "USPS.com Click 6." The charges totaled nearly $1500.
"My debit card got picked up by some anonymous person and they put charges on there," Jackson explained.
Jackson says he never authorized the charges and initially thought it was the post office behind the transactions.
the post office says they have no idea what "USPS.com Click 6" is, and now investigators are looking into the charges.
The sad story to consumers, identity theft is probably the largest consumer crime, and it is not going away," head of the Houston Better Business Bureau Dan Parsons said. "It is multijurisdictional, it is all over the country, and all over the world and getting an agency to crack down on one, another pops up."
Parsons says electronic identity theft is difficult to curtail, but consumers can take steps to protect themselves, like not carrying their Social Security cards with them.
"It is one of those things that people don't think about, and it is an identifying document," Parsons said. "It is a major thing to get you on your way to committing identity theft. Carry what you need. It's the same thing with credit cards."
As for Jackson, the good news is his bank will replace the missing money.
"I don't think I can find the person behind it, but I don't want anyone else to get victimized by this."
Postal inspectors say the "Click 6" charge is new to them, and something they have not seen before, so let this be a warning to everyone: check your account statements closely. If you see the same thing, or any other unauthorized charges, call your bank immediately.
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