Change of Address Scams

I moved hastily after the death of my husband. It was too painful to stay at our house.

At my new address my postal carrier asked if I filled out a change of address form which I could do on-line.

I was very busy planning a funeral and packing up my belongings and quickly logged onto what I thought was the USPS website - it was very authentic looking. At the end I was asked for a credit card which seemed to be for identity purposes since a charge was not clearly stated on the website. A few days later I found charges on my credit card of $29.95 and $4.95. I did some research and found out that there are "change of address" scammers out there! Who could think up such a thing?

I researched the Domain name "change-of-address.us" which was registered to a T. Riley of KTM Team LLC in Winter Haven, Florida. This LLC was set up by business attorney Samuel Houghton of Lakeland, Florida. The legalease on the change-of-address website was obviously generated by a business attorney (Samuel Houghton). This attorney advertises that he helps set up businesses. I'll be letting the world know what kind of businesses Samuel Houghton helps create.

The US Post Office only charges a $1 to change your address.

Welcome to Scamwarners E Wistle Blow.

Do you have a link to the website or any other details ? Even if the website no longer exists it may still be possible to locate the web record of its existence. Details of any e-mails and the mail addresses used would also be useful, with your personal identifying details removed.

I've got some background but some definite evidence would be required before I could comment.

Silly me - I missed your reference to https://www.change-of-address.us

[AlanJones]

I'm sorry for your recent loss.

These types of "scams" occur for all types of Government services such as passport or driving licence renewal. I put scam in quotes, because what you are describing is not what we would term a scam. The scammers we deal with take their victims money for no return. The website that you signed up for charged you for a service and then provided that service. Unfortunately, the fact is that the service they provide is not one that anyone needs and they rely on people who are to busy to read the disclaimers on the site or like you have more important matters on their mind.

I think that AlanJones' summation of the situation is spot on.

change-of-address.us was registered for only one year. The Post Office (or Postal Service) has been in existence for over a century and is not expected to disappear anytime soon. You can find it at usps.gov (only branches of government or parts thereof can get a .gov domain). Or you can go in person to the Post Office and fill out a form, and you don't need to pay for it.