FORT MYERS / NAPLES, FL – The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Postal Inspection Service are warning customers to steer clear of non-postal websites offering Change of Address (COA) services for a fee.
USPS is not affiliated with the businesses that own these COA sites, some of which charge fees of up to $50 to register new addresses and may claim they are offering a COA service through the Postal Service.
USPS offers three ways for customers to submit COA requests:
- Online at www.usps.com.
- The Mover’s Guide, available at all Post Offices.
- The Call Center at 800-ASK-USPS.
USPS charges $1 for identity verification to process COA requests submitted online or through the Call Center. The Mover’s Guide is available at no cost to the customer.
With more than 46 million customers changing their mailing address annually, the Postal Service makes every effort to prevent identity fraud and to protect the mail and privacy of our customers.
Customers charged more than a dollar for identity verification to change their addresses are using a non-postal website. Customers who used a non-postal website and are requesting a refund must request the refund from the business operating the site and not the Postal Service.
Anyone who believes they’re a victim of a mail crime should report it to the Postal Inspection Service by calling 877-876-2455 or visiting their website at https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.
For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.
A self-supporting government business, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With nearly 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
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