Silk Road forums

Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: whatthehell on November 30, 2011, 11:21 pm

Title: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: whatthehell on November 30, 2011, 11:21 pm
I just received 2 different customers that dont live near each other claim that they received their package but nothing was inside. the thing that I find interesting is that the pm's to me came very close to each other, i know that doesnt mean much, but one said that the outside envelope wasn't tampered with, I use tamper proof envelopes, you would know if someone tried to get in, if opened, they would have to tape it shut and it would be obvious that someone tried to get in. the other one said that nothing was inside. no details.

I remember a couple months ago there was a vendor that the same thing happened. what do you guys think?
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: clight on December 01, 2011, 12:44 am
friend of mine who also purchased and item off of Sr told me she received her package and there was some sort of extra tape on it

on the corner of the mailer an extra stamp looking postal sticker

freaked her out a bit ... but the order was inside

even though she thought the package may have been checked, it came through

she credited the stealth packaging

so possibly usps maybe checking smaller packages more agressivly esp ones from CAN and or CA

G/L
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: chronicpain on December 01, 2011, 12:58 am
Also, the post office has hired a lot of temporary staff. They will take chances more than a regular employee would. Also, If the package arrived without a letter saying that it was looked at or items confiscated, then it wasn't official, it was someone with sticky fingers.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: mito on December 01, 2011, 01:19 am
Also, the post office has hired a lot of temporary staff. ...... sticky fingers.

Damn!  Now I fear for my incoming ordersa...    :-\ :-[
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Rook on December 01, 2011, 02:14 am
Same exact story happened to me a couple months ago. 

I chalked it up to postal thieves.

The orders were small enough that I didn't lose much and just gave full refunds to both customers.

Hasn't happened again since I changed up my shipping methods though.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: chronicpain on December 01, 2011, 04:50 pm
Ive been thinking about this. Aren't I correct in my thinking that If the postal service opened it and found contraband, they arent just going to take it out and send it on its merry way, would they? especially without a note inside saying anything? I would think that they would do a controlled delivery or confiscate it altogether and then send a letter saying it was consfisacted. I, too, think its postal employees,.. Its only logical..
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: mito on December 01, 2011, 05:11 pm
Now this applies to weed I believe, because an employee won't steal an envelope containing an unknown and mysterious white powder in it.   

He'd rather report it to his boss than snorting it, right?
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Dobbs on December 01, 2011, 05:14 pm
If I was a silk road customer, AND if I was a postal employee, especially in one of those super large clearing facilities (which I am not btw just sayin), don't you think eventually I could put two and two together?  Yes the packages I've gotten were stealth, but easily detected unless sellers change corp logos etc every week.  If I had ordered something and knew the drill, I would never, as a us postal worker, have to spend another bitcoin again.  Imagine YOU were a mail handler...bet you would look at every package lol
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: mito on December 01, 2011, 06:26 pm
^^^  Imagine how many envelopes you'll have to sort until you see one you suspect has some goods in it.

I think the chances are extremely low.  The country is big.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Dobbs on December 01, 2011, 07:40 pm
Yeah, but I would be watching lol...

On another totally unrelated note, I've scoured DOJ and Dea websites and found no focus on us.  Mostly online pharmacies and kiddie porn etc.  INTERPOL is training up for future cybercrime fighting in Singapore
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: chronicpain on December 01, 2011, 08:05 pm
Another interesting thing to ponder. If it is stolen, and the vendors packaging was very stealthy, should the vendor eat the whole thing? I think that it should be a 50/50 type deal. As a vendor, I have no control once it leaves my hands. All I can do is package it as best as I can. I don't think it would be fair to put the whole burden on the vendor, this isnt walmart, etc. especially if the packaged arrived. If items are missing thats a whole different ballgame. while I probably replace small orders 100 percent, I dont think I would with bigger orders. After all, I dont get the items for free.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: White Light on December 02, 2011, 12:13 am
^^^  Imagine how many envelopes you'll have to sort until you see one you suspect has some goods in it.

I think the chances are extremely low.  The country is big.

I am not sure chances are so low, your mailman manipulates envelopes all day long, I guess he could easily detect suspect packages. For instance he may know your "mail habits" and be alerted by all this mails you are receiving now, or he can feel there is something sketchy in the envelope.
I had a job where I used to manipulate cash all day, in a few weeks I was able to detect most of false counterfeit banknotes without paying any attention, just by touching them.

In my opinion the risk of theft may be equal in the risk of seizure, especially for a simple envelope shipped domestically or within EU.

WL
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Dobbs on December 02, 2011, 03:20 am
haha I need to get a job at the post office lol ;D
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: beatmaker.13 on December 02, 2011, 03:31 am
I did some seasonal work last year for one of the big 3 package delivery companies and some of my peers routinely opened packages at random looking for anything of value.  Depending on where you are in the chain, it can get pretty difficult to know who stole what from where and when with so much stuff being moved for the holiday season.  I can't speak for the USPS, but I know shit got real grimey where I worked around Christmas.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: jsmith on December 02, 2011, 07:20 am
"Another interesting thing to ponder. If it is stolen, and the vendors packaging was very stealthy, should the vendor eat the whole thing? I think that it should be a 50/50 type deal."


It's definitely not all on the vendor to replace the whole thing.  It takes two to make the deal, and it should take two to see it through.  Perhaps for some big wholesalers loss of the occasional package could be covered, but 99% of SR vendors are normal chill people doing the rest of us a favor.  A 50/50 split is a fair split.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Aoth14 on December 02, 2011, 05:58 pm
haha I need to get a job at the post office lol ;D

Wow, someone ban this guy. He openly admits he'd steal peoples mail if given the chance. Wy would someone even joke about something like that?
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Dongville on December 03, 2011, 03:41 am
Quote from: chronicpain
"Another interesting thing to ponder. If it is stolen, and the vendors packaging was very stealthy, should the vendor eat the whole thing? I think that it should be a 50/50 type deal."

Hmmm. In legal businesses, this almost always falls on the seller, but in the case of SR purchases I agree with you. Packages that can be proven to have been stolen from during transit should be handled similarly to packages that were seized in transit. The two points that I'm curious about:

1) How would a buyer be able to prove that it was removed in transit, as opposed to said buyer faking it to get a partial refund?
2) Would some people consider a seller to be more than 50% responsible? I'd expect arguments that packages would not be stolen from if they were more cleverly disguised.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: microRNA on December 04, 2011, 07:51 am
When I first read the initial post, I actually thought that maybe it was just a buying scammer's attempt to pull one over and potentially freak the vendor out, as suggested in 1) below... I would be even more likely to think this if the package had delivery confirmation, however it seems rather strange that it would happen twice nearly simultaneously. There basically is no proof in this situation.

Mail workers stealing goodies sure is highly plausible and a very sad thought to live in such an immoral and unloving world.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Advanced Logic on December 04, 2011, 12:51 pm
As far as package quality goes - All of the top vendors have impressive packaging. Sometimes its so good you cant find your stuff at first. And the way it should work by the law is that they always give you a letter and rarely a controlled delivery. In a large city the police sometimes dont cooperate with other LEs. Due 2 the fact that basically every large city has alot of crime thats more important. If your concerned about a controlled delivery observe the letter charrier. Be leery if its not your normal mail carrier. Before they can do anything if you have received a package with drugs immediately refuse it.

So your best bet is 2 find one of the top vendors and order up.
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: peach on December 04, 2011, 09:13 pm
Due to the nature of my business I have strict control of every decision we make.
We extensively know how USPS operates, and I must tell you it is the safest delivery method out there.
Legally there isn't any way they can confiscate a mail in route unless they have a court order ordering to monitor mails from certain addresses, then the United States Postal Inspection Service (the "police" of the USPS) can and will track you down.

But if mails are sent randomly with random return addresses in the envelopes (the way we do it), then it is impossible to have any kind of court order to inspect, since it will just be like any other mail from the bunch.
Without a signed warrant from a federal judge, and a judge will not sign anything without a probable cause. Probable cause might be a dog barking at your package, but most top sellers in SR triple vacuum and seal the packages very tightly so that happening is very nil.

As long as you don't put your real address in the return address in the envelope, and as long as the stuff is very tightly sealed, (and as long as you weren't already under investigation) then there is no way to legally intercept and open a mail in transit at all :)

Take care
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Tommyhawk on December 04, 2011, 09:46 pm
One of my vendors packages in such a way that it is impossible to open it and see what is inside it.

For this to be done the package would have to be utterly destroyed, meaning the thief would have to reproduce it identically, and I just don't see someone going through that much effort to do so.

I suggest vendors run with this advice and put it to use ^
Title: Re: Whats going on? usps on to it? or scamming?
Post by: Dobbs on December 07, 2011, 04:46 pm
haha I need to get a job at the post office lol ;D

Wow, someone ban this guy. He openly admits he'd steal peoples mail if given the chance. Wy would someone even joke about something like that?

Somebody ban THIS guy for having ZERO sense of humor.