Thanks to a quick thinking craft employee and supervisor, a potential
Postal money order swindle at Radio City Station was averted and the alleged
perpetrators were apprehended through a collaborative effort between the US. Postal
Inspection Service (USPIS) and the NYPD.
In this particular incident, a customer walked into the
station very early in the morning and asked to buy a money order with their debit card for just under the maximum of $3000. The Sales & Service
Associate (who did not want to be identified for this article) became
suspicious, called upstairs to her Supervisor Mark Goodseit, and used the code
phrase, “open the store”––which alerted him to the possibility of a debit card
scam in progress. Goodseit immediately contacted the Postal Inspection Service
who in turn notified the New York Police Department.
“By the time I got downstairs to the lobby, the Police were already there and had apprehended what turned out to be three suspects,” said Goodseit.
“Debit card scams are an on-going problem for us city-wide,”
said TSPO Paul Sciuto. “But thanks to the vigilance of our Sales Associates, we
were able to prevent this scam from getting done.”
“While Postal Inspectors are ever vigilant in combating
these types of crimes, it takes a team effort,” said USPIS Public Information
Officer Donna Harris. “And this is a great example of what can happen when
everyone works together to stop thieves from abusing the mail system.”
Sales & Service Associates are trained to look for typical debit card transaction “red flags” like; customers using debit cards to purchase money orders for just under the $3000 maximum, and/or customers who want to use these debit cards early in the morning before the banks are open––minimizing the possibility of a background check. (Note: Credit cards are not accepted for purchase of money orders.)
“We have service talks about how to detect possible scams,”
added Goodseit. “We use different codes to alert each other. After what
happened to the last three scammers here, I think they’ll think twice before
they try to pull another scam at Radio City Station.”