A “sweetheart scammer” won’t be having a sweet Valentine’s Day, thanks to two observant postal employees.
Midland, PA, Postmaster Theodis “Theo” Badgett recently noticed a customer had suddenly started sending lots of Priority Mail Express packages.
The customer told Badgett he saved time having purchased products shipped to him and then reshipping the packages to his girlfriend in Dubai.
This didn’t seem right to Badgett, so he contacted the Postal Inspection Service.
Inspector Ian Ortega spoke with the customer, who said he had fallen in love with someone online that he had never met. His “sweetheart” said she was caring for her sick mother and needed help mailing and receiving packages.
After investigating, Ortega found the package contents were purchased with fake PayPal emails falsely sent to sellers claiming payment had been made.
When Ortega broke the news, the customer expressed gratitude for alerting him to the scam. All six packages were recovered and returned to the rightful owners.