WHAT:
Postal Service officials will host a number of events to celebrate National Consumer Protection Week in the Houston area.  Officials will distribute information and brochures warning against identity theft and fraudulent schemes, providing consumers with valuable information about protecting their financial assets from these types of crimes, as well as ways to report suspected financial fraud.

WHO:
Manuella Bakker, U.S. Postal Inspector
Jerry Warren, Manager, Consumer Affairs

WHEN & WHERE:
February 26 – 7-9 p.m. Eagle Springs committee meeting (Humble)
March 2 – 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Park Row Station (Katy)
March 3 – 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Rodeo @ Reliant Center (Houston)
March 4 – 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Long Point Station (Houston)
March 5 – 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Rodeo @ Reliant Center (Houston)
March 6 – 8:00 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Woodlands Station (Spring)
March 10 – 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Ft. Bend County Garden Apartments (Rosenberg)

BACKGROUND:
National Consumer Protection Week, set for March 1-7, is a national program led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to draw attention to issues and recommendations 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 identity theft and fraudulent schemes. The Postal Service will provide consumers with the tools and information needed to combat these types of crimes.

According to the National Consumers League, reported losses from one type of mail fraud alone – fraudulent schemes – quadrupled in three years. Each victim of this type of scam loses an average of $4,000.

The Postal Service will point customers to the website established by the Postal Inspection Service and its business partners: http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/ and www.FakeChecks.org.

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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.