Postal Service Offers National Consumer Protection Week Information at the Mount Vernon Post Office

“Your Information Destination”

 Mount Vernon, NY - Postal Service officials are celebrating National Consumer Protection Week. The Postal Service Office of Consumer Affairs, Postal Inspection Service and the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection will distribute brochures warning against fraudulent financial schemes, providing consumers with valuable information about protecting their assets from the schemes as well as ways to report suspected financial fraud. They will be at the Mount Vernon Main Post Office, 15 South 1st Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY 10550, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 8.

National Consumer Protection Week, set for March 6-12 is a national program led by the Federal Trade Commission to draw attention to issues and ideas that help customers become smarter consumers of products, materials and services and improve their knowledge of how to combat fraud of any type. The National Consumer Protection Week was established in 1998 as a means to highlight consumer education.  This year’s theme, “Your Information Destination,” is intended to highlight consumer education resources available through various distribution channels. The Postal Service is committed to helping consumers of all ages learn how they can protect their privacy and steer clear of frauds and scams.

Common Defenses Against Identity Theft and Fraudulent Schemes

             It is never too early to learn the warning signs of scams:

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  • Sounds too good to be true.
  • Pressure to act right away.
  • Guaranteed success.
  • Promises unusually high returns.
  • Requires upfront investment — even for a free prize.
  • Doesn’t act like a real business.
  • Something doesn’t feel right.

The Postal Service encourages everyone to visit the NCPW website, www.consumer.gov/ncpw, and the U.S. Postal Service/Postal Inspection Service website, www.deliveringtrust.com, dedicated to fraud education and prevention for tips about making smarter decisions in the marketplace.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the federal law enforcement, security and crime prevention arm of the United States Postal Service that protects the U.S. Postal Service, secures the nation’s mail system and ensures public trust in the mail. To learn more, visit http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov.