The quickest way to check if your mail is being forwarded is to sign up for USPS Informed Delivery, a free service that emails you scanned images of letter-sized mail heading to your address each morning. If the daily images show mail that never lands in your mailbox, a change of address order may be active on your name without your knowledge. Two other signals back this up: confirmation letters USPS sends whenever a forwarding order is filed, and a noticeable drop in the mail you actually receive.
Use Informed Delivery to Compare What Should Arrive to What Does
USPS Informed Delivery is the single most useful tool for spotting unauthorized forwarding. Sign up at informeddelivery.usps.com and you’ll get a daily email with grayscale images of the front of letter-sized mailpieces heading your way, plus color images of some catalogs and magazines.1USPS. Informed Delivery – Mail and Package Notifications The same information is available anytime through the website or mobile app.
The reason this works for fraud detection is where the images come from. Informed Delivery captures them as mail passes through USPS sorting machines, before delivery decisions play out. If someone has filed a fraudulent change of address in your name, the sorting machines still photograph mail addressed to you, but the physical pieces get rerouted to whatever address the fraudster provided. You end up with a daily digest full of mail that never arrives. That gap is the clearest evidence you can get without visiting the Post Office.
Watch the digest for a few days before drawing conclusions. A one-day mismatch can be a delivery timing quirk. A pattern across a week, especially involving items you’d expect (a bank statement, a billing envelope, a card from someone who told you they sent it), is the signal.
Watch for USPS Confirmation Letters You Didn’t Request
Any time a change of address is filed, USPS sends two separate mailings to confirm it. A Move Validation Letter goes to the old address, and a Customer Notification Letter carrying a 16-digit confirmation code goes to the new address. A welcome kit with partner coupons also goes to the new location.2USPS. Standard Forward Mail | USPS
For someone trying to detect fraud, the Move Validation Letter is the important one. It arrives at your current address and effectively tells you that a forwarding order has been submitted in your name. If you receive one and you didn’t file the order, treat it as confirmation that a fraudulent change of address is either pending or already active. Don’t discard it; you’ll want it when you report the problem.
Other Warning Signs to Take Seriously
A sudden drop in mail volume is the most obvious red flag. Most households receive at least some mail every few days. If your mailbox has been empty for a week or more and you haven’t filed anything with USPS, treat it as suspicious. Other indicators to watch for:
- Bills, bank statements, or tax documents that normally arrive on a predictable schedule stop showing up.
- A Move Validation Letter or Customer Notification Letter arrives at your address but you never requested a change of address.
- Your Informed Delivery digest shows mail images, but none of it appears in your mailbox.
- Friends, family, or businesses tell you mail they sent to you came back with a forwarding notice they didn’t expect.
Criminals who file a fraudulent change of address are typically trying to intercept financial documents, credit card offers, or tax refunds. The scheme usually rides alongside other identity theft, so an address change you didn’t authorize should put you on alert for broader fraud on your accounts.
Confirming a Forwarding Order You Filed Yourself
If you’re the one who filed the change of address and just want to make sure it took, the same confirmation mailings apply. The Move Validation Letter should reach your old address and the Customer Notification Letter should reach the new one, generally within about a week of the start date. If neither shows up, something likely went wrong with the submission.
If you filed online, log into your USPS.com account to check the order status directly. Forwarding can begin within three business days, though USPS recommends allowing up to two weeks for everything to route properly.2USPS. Standard Forward Mail | USPS The easiest real-world confirmation is simply seeing mail arrive at the new address with a yellow forwarding label showing it was rerouted from the old location.
What to Do if You Find Unauthorized Forwarding
Act quickly. The longer a fraudulent forwarding order stays active, the more mail gets diverted, and the more information the person on the other end collects.
Report It to the Postal Inspection Service
Contact the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), which investigates mail-related crimes. File a report online at uspis.gov under the “Mail Theft” category, or call 1-877-876-2455.3United States Postal Inspection Service. Report Be ready with your current address, the dates you noticed mail stop arriving, and any USPS confirmation letters you received unexpectedly. Also visit your local Post Office and ask them to review and cancel any active change of address order you didn’t submit.
Protect Yourself From Related Identity Theft
Unauthorized mail forwarding rarely happens on its own. Someone with enough personal information to file a change of address in your name may also be opening accounts, applying for credit, or filing tax returns as you. Take these steps alongside the mail fraud report:
- File an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC’s recovery site, which generates an official report you can use with creditors.
- Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) to place a fraud alert, which requires creditors to verify your identity before opening new accounts. A credit freeze goes further and blocks access to your credit report entirely.
- Alert your bank and credit card companies to the unauthorized address change so they can flag your accounts and confirm they’re mailing statements to the right place.
- Pull free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and look for unfamiliar accounts or address changes you didn’t make.
The Federal Penalty Behind the Report
Filing a fraudulent change of address is a federal crime. Under federal law, anyone who obtains mail through fraud or deception faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1708 – Theft or Receipt of Stolen Mail Matter Generally Postal Inspectors take these cases seriously, which is worth knowing when you’re deciding whether it’s worth the time to file a report.
Mail That Wouldn’t Arrive Anyway
Before assuming missing mail proves forwarding, know that some classes never get forwarded in the first place. USPS Marketing Mail, the bulk advertising flyers, coupon packets, and promotional catalogs that fill most mailboxes, is not forwarded at all.2USPS. Standard Forward Mail | USPS Periodicals like magazines and newspapers are forwarded for only 60 days on a permanent change of address, not the full year.5USPS. Domestic Mail Manual F020 Forwarding If most of what you feel is “missing” falls into those categories, forwarding may not be the explanation. The strongest evidence of unauthorized forwarding will always involve First-Class Mail: personal letters, bills, statements, and government correspondence, which is exactly the mail Informed Delivery is best at capturing.