[SoftTalker]

I have the idea (maybe wrongly) that people don't often use the USPS for scams because committing fraud by mail is a federal crime, and the postal service actually has inspectors with police powers who don't fool around once they get on the scent.

[nobody9999]

>I have the idea (maybe wrongly) that people don't often use the USPS for scams because committing fraud by mail is a federal crime, and the postal service actually has inspectors with police powers who don't fool around once they get on the scent.

Apparently, mail fraud[0] (via USPS) and wire fraud[1] (electronic communications) are both Federal felonies punishable by a fine and up to 20 years imprisonment.

Perhaps the difference would be FBI investigating instead of the postal inspectors?

More detail here[2].

N.B.: IANAL

[0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1341

[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1343

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_and_wire_fraud

[kube-system]

It’s illegal to scam people electronically too. People often scam internationally to evade capture. Email is just considerably cheaper to send internationally and easier to spoof the source.

How many letters do you have to send before you find someone stupid enough to believe that they have to pay the IRS via gift card and that the IRS return address is in Russia? If anyone has tried, they went bankrupt on postage.