Dear John: Post office can’t locate missing tax papers
Dear John: On March 2, I mailed my 2015 tax information to my accountant in New York from the post office in Jupiter, Fla. I used Priority Mail, which had tracking on the envelope.
Unfortunately, the envelope with all our tax information — which included our Social Security numbers, dates of birth, checking and savings account numbers and other financial data — was not delivered.
This is basically an identity-theft nightmare for us. To date, the accountant has not received our envelope.
On Monday, March 14, I went to the Jupiter post office to inquire about my missing envelope. I spoke with a postmaster, who basically informed me that the United States Postal Service has no idea where my Priority Mail envelope might be, other than it arrived at the Murray Hill Post Office in New York City at 4:37 a.m. on March 4 and went out for delivery at 10:41 a.m.
Her only advice was to wait a few days to see if my envelope turned up, explaining that the carrier might have marked the envelope “undeliverable — return to sender.”
As a result of the post office losing our mail, my wife and I have been forced to freeze our credit, notify our financial institutions of a potential identity theft, request duplicate copies of our personal information needed to file our 2015 federal tax return and face the reality that we might have to subscribe to a credit-monitoring service for the rest of our lives. That’s an expense we do not wish to incur. R.K.
Dear R.K.: Sorry for your loss.
As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find your envelope. But I did call the US Postal Service in Washington and the folks there seemed genuinely concerned. And I’m pretty sure that at least a couple of postal workers can’t sit down because of the spanking they got. But you still don’t have your letter, and even if it did show up, I’d still recommend that you take all the actions you did. That information was out of your hands for too long.
I know an USPS official reached out to you. Here’s what was said to me: “First and foremost, on behalf of the entire organization, I want to express my deepest and most sincere apologies for this situation. After several days of research, and extensive physical searches of our facilities, we are unable to locate the package to date.”
I don’t know about you, R.K., but when I get annoyed, I’m always glad to hear that the people who caused my aggravation are aggravated even more than I am. That seems to have happened here.
No anonymous deposits
Dear John: I recently went to make a deposit to my niece’s Citibank account, and before I could do so, they wanted my ID and my Social Security number, and asked me my occupation.
When did this start? I asked for the manager and was told every bank was doing this. When was this decided and why wasn’t there something in the papers or on the news? K.W.
Dear K.W.: Citibank says it was always required to get that information for large transactions. Last year it was revised to include all cash transactions when the person doesn’t have a Citibank banking card.
“Responsible finance and client account protection are our most critical priorities,” said a spokesman for the bank. “To further protect our clients and the banking system from fraudulent or other illicit activity, Citibank requires clients to provide ID information when making cash transactions if they have not validated their identity through use of a Citibank banking card,” he said.
On a roll
Letter writer B.M. from The Bronx called to let me know that Landauer Medstar medical supply corrected the mistake with her rollator, which is a walker with wheels that helps people with disabilities get around.
BM is home recovering and getting around well.
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