Unlawfully Billed? Threaten To Report Them For Mail Fraud

By consumerist.com July 25, 2007

One reader says that after Cingular overcharged her, she sent them a letter informing them they were committing mail fraud.

In response, Cingular’s executive offices called her and offered to refund her the overage, in addition to all the money she had ever paid them. “We want you to go away,” they said.

Mail fraud is defined as any unlawful attempt to get money in which the US Postal system is used at any point in committing the crime.

This is the first we’ve heard of this tactic, but it sounds intriguing. Employing it effectively would seem to involve:

1) being right about the unlawful billing
2) letting the company know you’re going to report them
3) giving them a chance to respond favorably
4) filing complaints with the USPS and your local DA’s office

(Photo: Ben Popken)

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Comments

  1. mrrbob says:
    July 28, 2007 at 11:07 pm

    I can buy the part about the woman accusing them of mail fraud but NOT the part about the CSR offering to refund everything she ever paid. That is an obvious exaggeration. AND a sort of nice fantasy…

  2. BrandonAbell says:
    September 1, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    Please don’t encourage people to accuse others of crimes they didn’t commit. Overcharging somebody isn’t fraud if it’s unintentional and if they take reasonable measures to prevent incorrect charging. Crazytree is right, guys. . .

    Now if Cingular actually committed fraud, and there is proof (just make sure you know what “fraud” actually means according to the law — it’s often not the same as the Webster’s def.), then go right ahead and let them know that you’re going to report them. Otherwise, if you carelessly throw around accusations against somebody, lookout for civil (libel) and criminal (extortion) charges against *you*.

    There are reasons why people have to study the law for at least three years and pass an exam to become a lawyer.

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