Suspicious....what do you think?

you are correct subigirl, they probably just want to get your signature so they can have some kind of signature proof later on. If I was you I will not accept the letter (I mean the empty envelope). Good Luck

I think that it was from a credit card co, since so many are based out of SLC.
Probably what happened is that it was opened in error , the contents lost and someone tried to be nice and resend it so you would know they are trying to contact you I reallky do not think it is a tctic to get your signature. Do you owe any cc's. I woukd just send it back marked recieved empty

If it is honestly a CA underhanded dirty trick, why not turn the tables on them? Sign for it but do not open it. Keep it. This is proof that something fishy is up.

They could also turn on you a different way, suppose they send this KNOWING you won't pick it up....now they have proof that they 'sent' the validation or whatever but you never picked it up!

Good point Golden

I was kinda thinking the same thing, Golden, but wasn't sure. Kind of a rock and a hard place. Of course, maybe I should accept it, as there is a note on it from the post office indicting that it is empty. I didn't think about that, but this could be my proof that I received it empty! It's one of those weird sticky kind of notes that ONLY the post office uses to flag suspicious mail!

I do have current open accounts, but NONE of them are in any kind of late status or anything like that. And like I said, the envelope is not your standard business envelope, my name and address are hand-written on the front, and the envelope is perfectly sealed with no signs of tampering. And someone being helpful would have at least included a return address. It's like who ever sent it doesn't want this thing traced back to them at all!

I'm going to think about it a bit more. Golden made a good point, and there is that note from the post office as my proof that it was empty upon receipt by them. Hmmmmmm......

Subi, do you have any defaulted internet pay day loans? I don't remember which one, but there is one that is located in Utah.

I would not accept the letter myself, but I never know what to do in those kinds of situations! I get scared to death when I get certified letters! I think it is a collector as well, trying to get a signature, or address verification, etc on you. Let us know what happens.

Nope, no payday loans. Have never had one of those in my life...internet or otherwise. I also looked through my credit report, and none of my open accounts, or anyone listed as inquiring of my credit, has an address out of Utah. Very strange, and very puzzling....

I was gonna suggest get something in writing from the post office that this was indeed empty and keep it as is....
Just a suggestion, let us know waht u decide,
Ang

I may go by there again, and see if they would be willing to do that. It's a small town post office, so it is possible that they would be willing to help.

I would try to get something in writing from the post office that it is empty like Ang said. I would accept the letter and keep the note that the post office wrote and the empty envelope unopened. I would send a certified letter to the return address that you received an empty letter and keep copies of that as well

Hi. I am just reading this post. It is very strange. But it was smart of you to think of an underhanded CA trick. You can't put anything past them.

DOLLARandSINCE...only problem is that there is no return address...just some postal stamp on it that indicates it was received at some time by a post office in Salt Lake City. That is the only indication of the source of this mysterious envelope. If it were empty with a return address, I wouldn't think much of it...would look up the address. If it had something in it with no return address, I would hope the contents would explain. The fact that it is BOTH empty AND without return address has me concerned.

I think I'm going to go by the post office, and see if they are willing to give me some note stating that they got the envelope empty with no signs of tampering. If they do that, I will go ahead and accept it, and keep it in a nice safe place...just in case I later get a "we sent you that" or a strange judgment showing up on my credit report or something. They will have me on them like white on rice if they try to get an underhanded judgment for a debt that is more than 2 years outside of the SOL!!!

Okay...ya'll are going to laugh at this one!

I purchased a DVD on ebay some weeks ago, and never received the item I paid for. I started a dispute with PayPal, after several attempts to contact the seller to find out where my DVD was, when the seller had already been paid via PayPal. Well, about 5 minutes ago, I thought..."Let's see if there has been any progress with PayPal contacting the seller." I log in to find that the seller is claiming the DVD was sent, and provided a tracking number to PayPal. The tracking number looked awful familiar, so I went to my car to get the post office notice for the certified letter I was telling you about. IT WAS THE SAME TRACKING NUMBER!!! Naturally, I notified PayPal of my findings this morning, and that as of this afternoon, the empty envelope remains at the post office. I'm calling PayPal to see what they want me to do about the envelope, as they indicate the status as that they are waiting for tracking status...if they want me to sign for it and send it to them or not.

At least I can breath a sigh of relief! It seems something underhanded is going on, but it is not by a CA...but rather the ebay seller that wants to keep my money and not give me my product! Funny, the seller had good ratings, and I have never had problems buying things on ebay before...and I have been doing it for years. Oh well...just glad to know it isn't a CA trick, though I wouldn't put it past a junk debt buyer like Genesee, LVNV, Asset Acceptance, etc. to use such a tactic to get signature information or something!

The poor guy I talked to at PayPal was stumped! He had never heard of anyone pulling this kind of junk before! He sat quiet for about a minute, then was like, "I'm sorry...I just don't know what to do with this one! Can I put you on hold while I ask my supervisor?" He came back on the line indicating that all is noted in my dispute, and that I should refuse the empty envelope. His supervisor further indicated that I should file a complaint with USPS for mail fraud (as it was even obvious to them that the purpose of the certified empty envelope was a tactic to get me to sign for something, so the seller could then come back and say I got my DVD so they didn't have to refund my money). I contacted USPS with the information that I do have (the tracking number, and the information that is available to me through PayPal). I guess it will be up to USPS to contact PayPal to get the address and phone number information on file for the seller. May not do anything, but I did my part.

Again, I'm just relieved that it is not an underhanded tactic of some CA...but rather, a person who is simply upset because they did not send me my DVD, and can't imagine why I want my money back!

Glad to hear it wasn't an evil CA, up to no good tricks. Maybe the Ebay Seller was having a bad day and simply forgot to put the DVD in the envelope, if they didn't plan on sending the DVD, I can't see why they would take the time to send an envelope. Especially if they have good ratings, I have bought and sold on Ebay, everyone wants good feedback.

Hummmm... sneaky huh? The way i understand it is there is NO way this seller could have just forgot to put a DVD in a small envelope! He surely messed up there! Mail fraud is VERY serious!
YIKES,
Ang

I wish I could say that the person simply forgot to put the DVD in the envelope, but I highly doubt the DVD would have fit in a 3"x6" letter envelope! Even PayPal thinks it was an underhanded tactic! There was no tape marks or anything to indicate the envelope was meant to be used as a label, and the postage was too low for it to be for the DVD. Of course, I checked ebay about a week after sent payment (to see about sending the seller a status request), and the seller was listed as an unregistered user. Hmmmmm.... The seller didn't have that many feedback responses, but the ones there looked good. Could be someone who changes names frequently to keep up a scam...put 10 copies of X on sale, when you really only have 3...make those transactions good so that you get good feedback, and scam the other 7? One could still come out way ahead on a deal like that!

Gosh sorry about teh double post, yet again! SIGHS.
Yea but sub this time this guy messed with the USPS! NOT smart!
Amazing what some people will do... one time i was watching judge judy on tv and they had a suit a lady had odered a phone from someone on ebay and paid a lot of money for it. When it came in the mail it was a PICTURE of the fone, that's it! And it said in the ad here is a picture of Razor fone that u are bidding on...
Needless to say judge judy gave it to the seller!! SHe lost...
some people!
Ang

Good point, Ang! I saved off a copy of the auction to a PDF...definitely says that the auction was for the DVD, and not an empty envelope...LOL. :lol:

Yep, seller in this case may find themselves in a bind...don't mess with the USPS...or the IRS for that matter! They probably would have been better off if they just continued to ignore, and I was paid back on ebay's or PayPal's insurance or something! Now, they very well may have broken the law!

I know this think ended up being off topic, but I'm sure some folks have found it interesting...

The post office called this morning, because they got an email regarding my complaint. The post master called me to ask me about it, saying that her clerk told her I came by yesterday morning. I explained that I did come by to sign for it, but then saw that it was an empty envelope with no return address, and became cautious. She understood completely, and said that she had remembered the item coming across her desk (again, small town), and didn't blame me. I explained to her what I had found out about the item as the day went on, and that PayPal suggested that a mail fraud complaint be filed, because the seller reported to them that the item in the post office's possession what the item I ordered...trying to get the claim closed without refunding my money...when in fact it wasn't even close...not even an envelope that the item could have fit in. The post master understood at that point what was going on, and advised me that rather than forwarding it to the Dead Letter Office, she was forwarding the envelope to the postal inspector! I have informed PayPal, and hopefully, they will get together and get their information to the postal inspector so that maybe this con-artist can be stopped! Now, it has become more about protecting other people from this fraudulent seller than about my money! I've gotten to the point that I am just sick of folks purposely trying to cheat out other folks!

I can't believe someone would stoop that low! For the price of a CD? I could see if it was an expensive item, but man, you would have to do that to hundreds of people to make it worth it! This guy needs to be stopped!

I swear, ebay is getting harder and harder to sell or buy on every day . . . . Too many scammers!

Even worse...I wonder how many bottom feeder, junk debt buyers buy old debt for probably the same amount this guy is trying to cheat me out of for the DVD, and cheat unsuspecting consumers out of hundreds to thousands of dollars!!

What a big relief!!! Good think you thought to check on that Pay-Pal!

I'm the type that would have obsessed over & over it.

Hope you settle your dispute about the DVD. People are STRANGE.

Oh, believe you me....it was bugging the heck out of me until I figured it out!! All night I was trying to figure out who would send me something certified from Salt Lake City...wondering if the CA had tried to sue me, and I was now going to have to go to court (even though I knew I could beat it with the SOL defense), if it had something to do with the IRS (we are currently in a dispute with my husband's ex's ex-boyfriend, who claimed my step-daughter on his taxes and got a butt load of EIC, which is a complete violation of the IRS rules...there is even an example in the documentation that specifically addresses it), etc. It was driving me nutts!

It's still under investigation. Will have to wait to see what the investigator says. I don't see why they wouldn't find in my favor.

Unbelievable! I didn't realize the envelope was too small for a DVD, I was thinking it was one of those bubble envelopes, but than I guess you wouldn't be able to see it was empty (okay, so I was having a brain fart!). Did you contact the Seller and ask what the hell was up?

I have tried to contact the seller several times, with no response. At the time of payment, seller had 49 positives on their feedback, and only a couple of neutrals/negatives. The auction even had the text:



So, as a buyer, you would think the person on the up and up, right? When I went to ask for a status a week after my payment, the seller was no longer registered. So, I emailed to address listed with PayPal...no response. I submitted a complaint with PayPal, still no response. It wasn't until it was escalated with PayPal to a claim that the seller responded to PayPal with the tracking number for the empty envelope! Now, there is an investigation for mail fraud!!! Why would anyone risk that for $20?!?!?!