Beware Fake Stamps Online Scams

Lots of concerns crop up when once we need elderly care. Studio City, CA seniors have many things to be concerned about. Chronic health conditions can require anything from senior day care to 24-hour assisted living. Studio City, CA seniors shouldn’t have to worry about being taken for a ride.

No matter what the concern is, the best elderly care services in Studio City, CA come from Home Instead. The trained, licensed, bonded, compassionate CAREGivers of Home Instead are ready to provide whatever home care assistance is required.

Sometimes the elderly services required are not about elderly health conditions at all. Sometimes they have to do with dealing with new technologies and recognizing scams and dangers online.

One very clever online scam that catches many people every year is deep discounts on postage stamps. The U.S. Postal Service never gives deep discounts on postage. Some partner retailers may at times give slight discounts, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. However, since the USPS relies on the sale of stamps to fund its operations, they do not sell postage at a discount.

Investigators with the U.S. government find more and more fraudulent websites that sell counterfeit postage every year. They work to shut them down and stop the fraud, but just as they shut one down, another pops up.

Most of the counterfeit stamps are printed in China and smuggled into the United States. They are impossible for the average consumer to identify as fakes, but since they are not printed by authorized producers of U.S. postage stamps, they lack certain security features that real stamps have.

The unfortunate result is that important documents like personal letters, Christmas cards, bill payments, and postcards from vacation will not reach their destination. When the Postal Service identifies a counterfeit stamp, the item it is on is confiscated pending investigation.

Fraudulent websites can be identified, however. Your friendly CAREGiver from Home Instead can help with this. One important thing to remember is that the Postal Service sells stamps only from websites that end in .gov. Any USPS website that ends in .com will be a fake.

Other elements, including odd wording and a lack of government email addresses will also suggest that a site is not on the up and up.

A little bit of internet savvy can go a long way in avoiding being taken in by a scam. Talk with your Home Instead CAREGiver about websites that seem to be giving away great deals on postage. They may well be able to help you avoid losing out.

Call Home Instead today to schedule your virtual or in-home assessment, 818-988-6848.