Mail Fraud ©
By Zaina Hart
(Published in Jareeda, 2000 and parts re-written here for clarity)
I have been asked to add this article to the iShimmy.com web site by several dancers who recently went through similar experience and used this article as a guide in how to handle their own situations. It is frightening and sad to know this kind of thing is still occurring - - e-mail fraud, identity theft, harassment, etc. So, I am sharing this experience again hoping it may in some way be beneficial.
For a little over a year now, I have been harassed by an unknown assailant. I have been receiving magazines, CD’s, Videos, Hummel Figurines, Collector Plates, etc. Oh, and I have been receiving the invoices for said merchandise as well. Also gifts were sent in my name/s to both real as well as fictitious people and dancers around the country. None of these products or magazines had been ordered by me - - merely ordered in my name – actually ordered in both of my names (my dance name as well as my real name).
I had no idea where this assault could be coming from and had no clue as to what I could have done that was so bad it could provoke this kind of sick behavior. I asked myself over and over, was this someone from the dance community or from the company where I worked? I considered finding another job, backing away from the dance community or even retiring. The thought that someone hated me so much was overwhelming.
I first became depressed, then, as a true Aries, I got angry – really, really angry. I called every agency I could think of calling requesting help and direction as to how to handle this. I tracked everything that was received and every company from which it came.
I have finally figured out exactly who is doing this and why - - it took a year - - the help of friends on the police force and a private investigator as well as a hand writing expert but finally, I do know “who” he is - what his name is - where he lives - what his phone number is – basically I know as much or more about him now than he does about me. (Modern Technology is great).
What I found was somewhat frightening as this individual is involved in our dance community. He has been a subscriber of numerous magazines and newsletters over the years and he has been purchasing your and my videos for quite some time. I suppose I could give you his name, and eventually I just may if he continues his childish antics, but for now, I am satisfied in letting him know, that I finally figured out IT IS HIM.
Let me start at what I thought was the beginning:
Last year in early October I received the first package, (CD’s) from a music company. I didn’t think too much about it at first and just simply wrote “Return To Sender – Did not Order” on the box and put it back in my mailbox for the Postal Carrier to pick up the next day. But then, the next day I had two more boxes from two other companies. I did the same thing, but this time I also called the companies to let them know I had not ordered their product and was returning the boxes. (By the way, these items were ordered in my dance name as well as my real name – so I asked the companies to check for orders in both of my names and cancel).
Well that was over a year ago. To date (early 2000) I have received over $5,000.00 worth of merchandise and magazines, and my friends (fellow dancers) have received magazines as well. There were days when four to five boxes would arrive all at once along with several invoices. I have spent countless hours on the phone and many more pondering why this was happening. With every invoice or piece of merchandise that was received, I contacted the sending company and asked for the following information:
* When and how did you receive the order?
* If it was in writing, will you please send me a copy of or the original of the “mail order card”.
* Please cancel the order, check both of my names and my address to assure no other items were ordered.
* What is your policy should I discover who has been ordering merchandise in my name? (This has a wide range and will prove to be interesting for Mr. So and So).
I have kept meticulous records of dates items were received, people I have spoken with, the company policy, etc. (25 pages worth of records). I have records from the Postal Inspector’s Office with whom I have filed a complaint and have given this man’s name and address. I have a book that is now 4 inches thick with every order card (with his handwriting and the postmark of the city from which it was mailed), invoice and copy of the cover of every box received (and still today in 2007, I hold this book with all the documentation collected). I have copies of the laws that pertain to these issues and have requested additional help from my local Senator’s office.
So, how did I figure out who was doing this and why?
Well, three months ago I received another strange envelope (in a long line of strange ones) with a Dulles, VA Postmark (which is the same postmark as every order card these companies provided me). The mailing address of the person the envelope was addressed to was incomplete and hand stamped by the post office “Return to Sender” “Not a Good Address”. But what was critical was the “Return Address”. It was in “type” not handwritten and had both my dance name, real name and phone number as well as my address. The type was familiar – I continued to look at it and try to figure out where I had seen the format before. Then it dawned on me. It was from the “Teacher’s Directory” on the back of a local Middle Eastern Dance Newsletter. I grabbed the previous month’s newsletter, and there it was – the exact type, name and address right down to the little dots by the telephone number. Mr. So and So had either cut my information off of, or
Photo-copied it from the newsletter and taped it onto the envelope so that the Post Office would return it to me. He had used a fictitious person as the receiver with the real intent that the envelope would be returned to me – the true intended recipient of the information enclosed in the envelope.
What was in the envelope?
There were ten handwritten double-sided cards (which only served to provide the handwriting expert more examples), with information about how to purchase videos that various dancers in our communities currently have for sale. The cards were taped together with clear shipping tape in two’s to make them double sided. Also enclosed were individual pages from a video catalogue advertising various nationally advertised videos (about leprosy, death, etc.) and one page from a Middle Eastern Dancer’s Directory.
So I immediately contacted the local dance newsletter and asked the following questions: “Do you have anyone on the subscriber list who lives in Dulles, VA”? I was told no. Then I asked, “do you have anyone in Virginia at all”? (which would seem strange considering this was a local newsletter clean across the country from Virginia). The response was, “yes, we have ONE person, in VA, a man, Mr. So and So!”
The second I heard the name it all fell together. I recognized the name from an incident a year ago. So, finally I knew who it was. I was elated. But that elation did not last long. Actually, it lasted only ABOUT TEN MINUTES. Then I became furious. ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS!
The Incident
Over a year ago, Mr. So and So sent a check for a video I was advertising in Jareeda to an
address I was no longer using. When he did not receive the video he requested, he sent another letter, but this time to my correct address. He included his telephone number. So I attempted to contact him leaving a voice mail explaining I was sorry, but I had not received his check and order, and that I would be happy to send him a video if he still wanted one. I further explained he would need to send a check to the address in his last letter and I provided the address and my telephone number again. I also suggested he put a stop payment on the check. In the meantime I checked my ad for the video and discovered the wrong address had been printed in Jareeda. (Mezdulene’s computer had crashed and she had used an older ad not realizing there had been a change in the address – completely innocent – but a critical step in the saga).
Mr. So and So called back the next day when I was not home and angrily spat at my “underage” daughter a number of accusations and obscenities. I attempted to contact him again but only got voice mail. After that we did not hear from him again. But I did keep his letter on file. As soon as I heard his name from the newsletter – I pulled out the letter from my files and “behold” a Dulles, VA postmark and his handwriting – and probably the most incriminating piece of evidence I have. Something for the experts to review and compare to all the other handwriting from the mail order cards and the last envelope sent in August of this year. And yes, it did all match.
There is one more little piece of this puzzle I feel compelled to explain. While I do not understand Mr. So and So’s need to go to this extent when I had done nothing to provoke him I also feel a need to place some of the blame with the holders of the commercial mail box I maintained for nearly three years, which was where his check was mailed. You see, when you sign a contract for a commercial mailbox, you have also signed a contract making the CMB Company your “Agent”. You receive your mail in “care of” the CMB and as the particular CMB I used explained to me, “they own my mail”. Hmmm, now isn’t that interesting. It actually explained quite a lot when I went back to them to ask questions as to what happens to mail they receive when a person no longer has the box. What I was told by the CMB was, “The Post Office won’t take back the mail we receive for you”. And they also told me “they give us a hard time about it and just refuse to pick it up”. So my question was (nearly two years after I closed the box) “Well, then what do you do with the mail you get with my name on it”? I was told, “We destroy it”. “Sure you do” I said. CD’s, magazines, etc. they simply destroy? I didn’t believe that for a minute.
So a second investigation began. What I found out is there are Postal Codes regarding how mail is handled while you have a commercial mail box and when you no longer have that CMB, so that your mail is handled properly and so that you are protected. I spoke with the specific Post Office that handled the mail for the CMB company I had been using and got a totally different story. Based on the Postal Codes, the CMB Company is to send the contract I originally signed for the mail box to the Post Office within 30 days after I close my box. And, any mail the CMB Company receives in my name is to be directed back to the Post Office for return to the sender. The CMB is not required to forward the mail to me, but is required to return it to the post office for return to sender. (My CMB Company was not doing this).
This did not happen in the case of Mr. So and So. His order apparently went into the trash can at the CMB or was simply shredded, but was not returned to him. So he assumed I had the order and check and was simply holding it - - even though I attempted to explain to him it went to the old address and I had not seen it.
So, all in all, here is what I have done to protect myself and expose Mr. So and So to the
authorities as well as the CMB Company for their lack of concern and blatant refusal to follow postal codes as outlined:
* Filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against the CMB Company
* Filed a complaint with the Postal Service against the CMB Company
* Filed a complaint with my local Police Department against Mr. So and So and am attempting to obtain an order of protection against him (and have provided evidence)
* Filed a complaint letter with Mr. So and So’s local Police Department in the County in which he lives (providing evidence)
* Filed a complaint with the Postal Inspector’s Office in New Jersey (providing evidence)
* Filing a complaint letter with my local FBI office (providing evidence)
* Obtained a REAL Post Office Box at my local Post Office (which is far less expensive anyway)
* Contacted the Local Newsletter and requested the separation of my dance persona from my real persona making the suggestion they should NOT print our real names anywhere in the newsletter unless they have written permission from us to do so. There may be the risk the newsletter could be held legally accountable for printing a name and address they have not been given permission from that person to print.
I have also taken other steps to protect myself, family, friends and students. It is sad, but our dance personas may put our safety at risk and others close to us as well. I know this article may inflame Mr. So and So and he may continue his past behavior, but I must caution him that since he has been “discovered” he should cease and desist this behavior. Not only am I watching out for him but so are several government, state and city agencies.
Further, I was not the only target. Mr. So and So has sent mail to other dancers in my local community and I have no doubt with further investigation by the authorities it may be discovered he has sent mail to others around the country. Please understand that at this time and for safety and legal reasons and at the suggestion of law enforcement agencies and my attorney, I will not expose Mr. So and So’s true identity or for that
Matter, mine. Nor will I tell you what specific city Mr. So and So actually lives in nor the
city/area in which I reside. If however, Mr. So and So continues this behavior, I will file a civil case against him and the results of that case will become public record.
If you have information regarding mail you may be receiving or a similar incident you may contact me directly.
In closing I ask you all to protect yourselves. This experience has taught me many valuable lessons that I will not soon forget. I will not take the safety of family, friends nor self lightly ever again.
