A Trek’s Rest Thought: Duped Again

When I go to Florida I have my mail forwarded to my address there. When I leave I have the mail sent back to my local address. I do this through the Post Office. It costs about a buck which the Post Office charges to verify who I am. I have to give them my credit card number which corresponds to my home address.

Today I opened my credit card statement. I had a charge on it of $79.95  from “addresschangeformsorg.” Tracking back how this happened I typed in US Postal Change of Address and the first site that jumped up was “Postal Address Changer – Standard US Form.”  I clicked on it. It never really read the small print and assumed it was the U.S. Postal Service I was dealing with.

It wasn’t. I was scammed. I’ll do what I can to address this but in the meantime I’m sure thousands of others are likewise being trapped. You would think there would be a requirement that these sites make clear they are not part of the U.S. government and what they are offering can be done without cost.

I almost got scammed filing for a free EIN number. Here’s the site I clicked on: “IRS EIN Number Application – Get An (EIN) Tax ID Number Now” Sounds official, doesn’t it?  You fill out what looks like a federal form and this site charges $245.00 for doing what the government does for nothing.

BOTTOM LINE:  You gotta watch what you’re doing all the time. Stay Alert. Well rest’s over. Must get trekking on.

4 Comments

  1. Thanks for the warning. Reverse the charges.

  2. I follow the same procedure and after the 1st year I opted out of their free “discount offers” from 3rd parties. I haven’t had this scam yet but it’s good to check.

  3. Sorry, Matt. I did something similar. If you’re even momentarily distracted by something else, (the doorbell rings. The dog yowls.) It can cost you money.

  4. Matt, those are unauthorised charges. Call the credit card company and get them reversed.

    Henry