Postmaster General John Potter is mad as hell at Wachovia! He’s accusing them of ‘really doing a disservice to the American public’ with an ad that suggests mailing your bills puts you at greater risk of ID theft than paying them on-line. Potter says this simply isn’t true:

“I have no problem with competition — it’s a good thing, it can keep everyone at the top of their game,” he said. “All I ask for is a little honesty when you’re doing it.” Asked specifically about the bank, he accused Wachovia of “really doing a disservice to the American public.”

“To me it’s absurd that the bank is pointing to the mail when we know that [the web] is like the Wild Wild West,” he said.

“We are not doing enough to inform the American people about what is going on with identity theft. We are much more comfortable to sweep it under the rug.”

Potter sits on a multi-agency task force that is examining ID theft. He says the task force’s report will show that the majority of ID theft comes from sources other than the mail: “employee or insider data theft, computer hacking, phishing, lost or stolen wallets and even people rifling through the trash.” We’ve seen the ad in question, and it is sort of misleading.

You should be sure to mail your bills by dropping them off at the post office not by leaving them out on the stoop where anyone can pick them up. —MEGHANN MARCO

Postmaster General Takes Umbrage With Wachovia Ad [AdAge]

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