Man changes UPS HQ's address to his apartment

[madoka]

And it only took UPS security three months to figure it out! What a crack team.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...ign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180510

As federal crimes go, this one seems to have been ridiculously easy to pull off.

Dushaun Henderson-Spruce submitted a U.S. Postal Service change of address form on Oct. 26, 2017, according to court documents. He requested changing a corporation's mailing address from an address in Atlanta to the address of his apartment on Chicago's North Side.

The post office duly updated the address, and Henderson-Spruce allegedly began receiving the company's mail — including checks. It went on for months. Prosecutors say he deposited some $58,000 in checks improperly forwarded to his address.

The corporation isn't named in the court documents, but the Chicago Tribune reportsthat it's the shipping company UPS.

In a statement to NPR, UPS said it "was notified that some U.S. mail, intended for UPS employees at the company's headquarters address, was redirected by an unauthorized change of address by a third party. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) corrected the issue and the USPS Postal Inspector is investigating the incident."

Dushaun Henderson-Spruce in a November 2016 police photo.

Henderson-Spruce allegedly messed up the form a little. "Henderson-Spruce did not identify himself on the one-page form. At first, the initials 'HS' were written on the signature line, but the initials were then scratched out and replaced with 'UPS,' according to the charges," the Tribune reports.

But that was apparently good enough for the U.S. Postal Service. Henderson-Spruce began receiving several thousand pieces of First Class US mail and registered mail" addressed to the corporation, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

For nearly three months, mail addressed to UPS's corporate headquarters was forwarded to Henderson-Spruce's apartment. He received so much mail that the mail carrier had to leave it in a USPS tub outside his door, the Tribune reports.

The mail carrier told investigators that "voluminous" amounts of company mail were delivered to Henderson-Spruce, sometimes handed to him directly.

The mail contained personal identifying information of employees, as well as business checks and invoices, according to the affadavit. He was also sent American Express corporate credit cards. Henderson-Spruce allegedly deposited into his bank account some 10 checks addressed to the company, totaling approximately $58,000.

This went on until Jan. 16, when UPS security flagged the situation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

 

[IronWing]

The consequences will never be the same. Copycats incoming.

 

[KMFJD]

Entrepreneur

 

[brianmanahan]

he's got the brains

 

[Red Squirrel]

How would you deposit a cheque that's not in your name though? Woudn't the cheques be in other people's names?

 

[madoka]

You'd think that UPS HQ would have a pretty big mailroom and they'd immediately notice the decrease in volume. Yet it still took them three months to figure it out?!?!!?

Then no one at the USPS cared that some random dude started getting boxes of UPS HQ's mail to his apartment?!?!?!!?

 

[zerocool84]

You'd think that UPS HQ would have a pretty big mailroom and they'd immediately notice the decrease in volume. Yet it still took them three months to figure it out?!?!!?

Then no one at the USPS cared that some random dude started getting boxes of UPS HQ's mail to his apartment?!?!?!!?

Companies that huge take forever to realize something like that.

 

[madoka]

Companies that huge take forever to realize something like that.

Hell at that point, someone might as well change the IRS address to a dropbox and leave the country a few months before the government realizes that no one is paying taxes.

 

[paperfist]

How would you deposit a cheque that's not in your name though? Woudn't the cheques be in other people's names?

You just sign the back of the check "UPS" with your account #.

 

[highland145]

You just sign the back of the check "UPS" with your account #.

My stamp says "For deposit only", done.

 

[paperfist]

My stamp says "For deposit only", done.

I'm thinking he had help from the teller or the teller wasn't too bright. Either way the crime was so brilliant a lot of fools were caught off guard.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You just sign the back of the check "UPS" with your account #.

Doesn't that require an actual signature? Like from the UPS treasurer or someone that would have authority?

Sounds like this guy really knew what he was doing, either way. Maybe he actually did manage to get a UPS signature and just forged it. Suppose he could also have used the ATM to deposit instead of a teller, maybe those cheques don't get as much scrutiny as it might be done by someone less qualified or something. They would just make sure the amount matches with what you entered.

 

[Thebobo]

How would you deposit a cheque that's not in your name though? Woudn't the cheques be in other people's names?

we don't take lightly for that darn fancy pancy canadian spelling around here /chews tobacco /spits
And its color not Colour!

 

[madoka]

we don't take lightly for that darn fancy pancy canadian spelling around here /chews tobacco /spits
And its color not Colour!

Damnit if we don't do something about these Canadians soon, before you know it we'll be drinking milk out of a freakin' plastic bag while we watch hockey!

 

[paperfist]

Doesn't that require an actual signature? Like from the UPS treasurer or someone that would have authority?

Sounds like this guy really knew what he was doing, either way. Maybe he actually did manage to get a UPS signature and just forged it. Suppose he could also have used the ATM to deposit instead of a teller, maybe those cheques don't get as much scrutiny as it might be done by someone less qualified or something. They would just make sure the amount matches with what you entered.

All I know is when I deposit my company checks whether it's for $100 or $9000 all I do is put my company name on the back and the account #.

It's actually kinda spooky and when I had some company credit cards stolen I asked the bank manager what prevents someone from stealing checks from my PO Box, signing the company name on the back and making off with the dough she just smiled and said hopefully the teller does the right thing.

 

[Raizinman]

I was wondering if UPS will have a price increase this year, and I guess this settles it. They likely will.

 

[OutHouse]

Doesn't that require an actual signature?

do the checks we (used) to write to stores get signed? no they put it through the machine and it types/prints out the endorsement. Same with the companies I have worked for, the AR dept just stampes the back with a rubber stamp with the company name and account number.

hell I have a friend who had his accountant steal 300K from him by depositing checks into her bank account just by writing "pay to the order of". she got caught and was going to go to court but died before trial. my friends company nearly went under from this and took him many lean years to recover.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I would have thought he'd got way more money...but I suppose it depends on what it was and if he could get them cashed. I'm not really clear on that part. Was it customers sending money?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Yeah, sure, he got away with it for 3 months...

But how low must your IQ be to make the address YOUR home address? It's only a matter of time since you basically self-incriminated yourself.

At least forward it to a PO Box or some shit - preferably registered in someone else's name.

It's a good thing the majority of criminals are brain dead retarded.

 

[Red Squirrel]

do the checks we (used) to write to stores get signed? no they put it through the machine and it types/prints out the endorsement. Same with the companies I have worked for, the AR dept just stampes the back with a rubber stamp with the company name and account number.

hell I have a friend who had his accountant steal 300K from him by depositing checks into her bank account just by writing "pay to the order of". she got caught and was going to go to court but died before trial. my friends company nearly went under from this and took him many lean years to recover.

Wow sounds like a serious security issue then. I'm surprised fraud does not happen more often. Then again even a signature is not all that secure, it can still be forged.

 

[OutHouse]

Wow sounds like a serious security issue then. I'm surprised fraud does not happen more often. Then again even a signature is not all that secure, it can still be forged.

signatures don't meant anything anymore when it comes to transactions. I sign all my cc receipts with Donald Duck

 

[BarkingGhostar]

This is going to become a thing, soon.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

What was his end game? There is absolutely no way to get away with that long term. Try it with Amazon or Bill Gates as a prank to point out a flaw in the system, fine if you steal nothing. Go after a televangelist and steal cash, sure, it's hard to prove what was taken, you might get away with it. Set up a bank account in the Cayman Islands using fake documents, deposit a whole buttload of checks quickly for a month or two, transfer the money out into a web of shell accounts and get out before caught, that might work. But using your home address and depositing checks into your own account is 100% guaranteed to fail. Am I missing something here, could a criminal mastermind greater than myself figure out some way this could work?