USPS - Alerts workers to imposters

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Post office memo alerts workers to imposters

By Rebecca Carr, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau Friday, November 2, 2001

WASHINGTON -- A recent U.S. Postal Service memo warns all postal inspectors to be on alert for people posing as vendors to gain access to mail distribution centers.

The Oct. 24 memo states that several government offices in New York were visited by people falsely claiming to be employees of ADT Security Services.

The individuals asked to see floor plans of the government buildings and they wanted to check the alarm systems, according to the memo written by Scott Morrell, a program manager in the security division of the Postal Service.

None of the government agencies had requested security services, according to the memo. The government agencies were not identified.

The memo also states that three people in Detroit, who were not ADT employees, tried to purchase two of the security company's vans.

"All postal personnel should exercise caution when any vendor arrives to perform service on any security, communications (including telephone), or computer equipment," the memo states. "If anyone purporting to be a service technician for any company appears unannounced at any office, they should be refused."

A similar memo was issued by the executive branch of the U.S. Attorney's Office in late September.

The FBI declined to comment on the memos.

Dan Mihalko, a postal inspector, said the memo distributed by the Postal Service was intended as a security alert. But he said the information about the Detroit incident turned out to be "incomplete."

The people trying to buy the vans in question were from a car dealership that wanted the company to upgrade its fleet with new vehicles, Mihalko said.

Officials at ADT's headquarters in Boca Raton said the government warnings did not accurately portray what happened in either incident.

"Everything has been investigated and there is nothing to it," said Maryanne Kane, chief communications officer for Tyco International Ltd., the parent corporation of ADT.

rcarr@coxnews.com

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

Answers

And keep questioning REPAIR PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not that hard to buy or steal uniforms. How easy it is to assume that someone with a uniform and a package/set of tools/cleaning device is where he is supposed to be.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001


Years ago there was a series of rapes on our college campus. The rapes were hushed up by the university and not investigated by 'real' cops. 'Real' cops weren't allowed on campus. I only knew about it because the woman in the next apartment building was raped.

One day I had just entered my back door. I had installed my own hook latch on my back screen door, and I made a point of locking it behind me as I entered every time. No one else had that type of latch. There was no one in sight when I entered my apartment, and within one minute of my arrival a man was pulling on my back door. He was surprised to find it latched.

Now I was facing him with my main door ready to be slammed on him if he tried to yank the screen door open. He claimed to be from the campus housing department, and he insisted he had a work order for my apartment. He insisted that I had to let him in. He looked me right in the eye and looked very sincere.

I happened to know that our campus housing director was so stingy that nothing EVER got fixed, I hadn't asked for any repairs, they always wore uniforms and arrived in pairs, and they always KNOCKED on the FRONT door.

I politely but firmly insisted he had the wrong apartment and shut the door. We didn't have a phone. I had to wait at least an hour for the courage to go to a pay phone and call campus security.

They refused to let me file a report. So did the cops downtown. I went door to door, describing the man to every woman in the complex. He got another two women before he moved on to other places.

This story has nothing to do with terrorism, except to point out that when this guy was caught, he acted like he had authority. He pretended not to understand me when I said he couldn't come in. He implied I would be kicked out of housing if I didn't let him in (I was the one who would bear the consequences). He was calm and collected, even though he wasn't expecting to have to talk his way in.

Don't assume all terrorists are from the Middle East.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001


Thanks for sharing, Helen!

I'm sure that he was startled to find that latch. I had a similar experience with a guy who tired to get into my car while I was stopped at a light (I drive with all my doors locked). He had this look of "How Dare YOU!"

They say that fortune favors the bold. Not if we become bold ourselves.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001


Being older and meaner now, I believe I would have screamed bloody murder along the lines of "FIRE!" and gotten attention to his appearance from others. We've been indoctrinated with the idea that we mustn't be rude, we mustn't be un-PC, we mustn't take responsibility for inconveniencing others, and we don't dare make a mistake or we'll be sued. Well, sue me. I don't have anything, will make a point of NEVER having anything if I'm sued, and I'll get all your personal info from the court papers. No telling just what I might do with it.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

This explains the added security at the entrances. We were carded coming and going, and I heard the plant manager wants to put back the security booths with a guard inside at each entrance. Not for the customer entrance though. Just the trucks and employee entrances.

hmmmm...

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001



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