[Slicwilly2000]

WHAT IS A MAIL DROP?
A mail drop is a private business that receives mail on your behalf, and handles
it according to your instructions. They operate with the full knowledge and
cooperation of the Postal Service, yet provide many more services and convenience
which the Postal Service does not offer. Indeed, the principal reason mail drops even
exist is because the Postal Service has never chosen to be fully responsive to public
need for postal convenience and security. In the early Seventies there were numerous
instances of people being on waiting lists up to a year just to obtain a post office box!
Mail drops are also known by other names, such as Mail Forwarding Service,
Remail Service, Mail Receiving Service, the central purpose being that they will
receive your mail from the post office and make it available to you as you require. The
official attitude of the Postal Service is at least ambivalent, since these businesses
gladly handle mail which would otherwise present “problems” for postal employees.
Today these are perhaps as many as 5000 mail drops in the U.S. alone, most offering a
wide selection of setices for which their customers are more than willing to pay0

WHY USE A MAIL DROP?
1. PRIVACY
Personal privacy affords protection from others who may seek to take
advantage of you or threaten you in some undesirable manner, Other people do not
have to know all about your life and affairs (despite the idiocy practiced on TV talk
shows), and you CAN do much to protect yourself from snoops and criminals.
Consider the following ways a mail drop can serve you, as well as offer benefits you
might not otherwise have thought possible.
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2. CONVENIENCE
At most mail drops you can call in to see if you have received mail for the day.
You can buy stamps, ship parcels via UPS (and other carriers), receive parcels from
just about any carrier, and likely never have to stand in a line. If you travel often or
are gone for periods of time, the mail drop will1 hold your mail, or re-mail it to you at
addresses you designate, whenever you choose. Many retirees actually travel
continuously, as do some salesmen, and they use mail drops as their “permanent
address. ” Many mail drops also offer 24-hour access to boxes, and operate public fax
service as well. They typically have copy machines, and can assist with packaging for
shipping via UPS and others.

3. SECURITY
Mail drop customers can avoid theft and tampering with their mail, which
happens unfortunately too often in “public” mailboxes at apartment complexes, even
quiet suburbs. Thieves seem to know just when important checks, banking data, and
credit card mailings are due to arrive in the mail, and help themselves to it. Until
recently the Postal Service blithely accepted “Change of Address” forms by mail,
which enabled thieves to divert people’s mail long enough to steal most of their
financial data and perpetrate massive banking and credit card fraud. Today the Postal
Service does notify both addresses before completing the change of address, at least
alerting potential victims in advance. Once mail has been received at a mail drop,
however, the Postal Service will no longer forward it or recognize a change of
address. Your mail STAYS at the mail drop, to be handled according to YOUR
instructions. Your mail is SAFER at a mail drop.

PRIVACY

The outside envelope or covering of each piece of mail reveals a lot of
information relating to the person to whom it is addressed. The FBI and other postal
snoops often conduct what they call “mail covers” when they begin to investigate a
possible target. They simply go to the post office and arrange to have all the mail
addressed to a particular name and/or address recorded or photocopied with respect to
the return address. That list of return addresses can quickly reveal most of the people
and firms with whom the subject conducts business- a shopping list of places to go
and people to see. This form of surveillance is legal since, technically, the mail never
leaves “the custody” of the Postal Service. The investigator learns personal
information relating to reading preferences, organization or group affiliations, banking
and financial relationships, personal contacts, and any other possible reference which
can be discerned from the outer covering. Not bad for sorting through some
“ordinary” mail. .

I include this, not because you may be a target of investigation, but because
ANYBODY can do the same thing simply by having access to your mail. So why give
them the opportunity? A mail drop can keep sensitive mail away from inquiring minds.
Any mail drop worth the name will allow you to use code names, sometimes
for a small extra charge per name, per month. IF A MAILDROP DOES NOT ALLOW CODE NAMES YOU DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT TO USE THEM. This would be a clear-cut indication that the operator was a cowardly pinhead who would roll over the instant any investigator walked in the door., He’s the kind who would sell out his own mother for lack of last month’s rental on the box..

Correspondence which you do not want those around you to discover can be
sent to a mail drop. People involved in a divorce, child custody matters, and private
business concerns are all natural candidates for the services of a mail drop. Public
figures, celebrities, and wealthy individuals have long used a variation of a mail drop
by having their correspondence directed to their attorneys and accountants, typically
under fictitious names People who enjoy exotic, pornographic, or otherwise
“scandalous” material wisely have their correspondence and purchases mailed to
private mail drops, again, using code names. Postal carriers are very aware of mailings
of this nature, so why not add them to the list of people who don’t deserve to know of
your private enjoyments?

People in debt who fear the imminent arrival of collectors can buy time and
space by using mail drops. Their debts may not disappear, but the harassing will take
place in a much more neutral arena. Other users elect to make a mail drop their
official “residence” for tax purposes, selecting states that have much lower income and
sales taxes. (Nevada and Texas impose no state income taxes.) Likewise, auto
insurance rates can vary dramatically by state, and a careful use of a mail drop can
secure much lower rates. This would be especially useful to people who do travel
constantly. They are in a position to declare virtually any state their legal residence
and benefit from whatever tax and insurance differentials might exist. The continuous
use of a particular mail drop in the state they select will be proof enough of “residence.”

Many businessmen prefer to receive their mail early in the day. Mail drops
provide this since they can arrange “caller service” at their local post office and pick
up all mail for the day, usually by 9AM. It doesn’t take them long to sort their
customers’ mail, and clients can even call in to see if any has arrived.

In most businesses there are practical needs that require mail privacy: possible
sale of the business; “secret” trade research; solicitation of prospective new
employees; inquiries about possible relocation of the business; using “blind” ads for
information, hiring, market research, etc. Devious bosses might “chum the water” by
running blind ads to see if certain types of employees are eager to leave for better pastures.

Startup businesses can take advantage of “prestige” addresses by using certain
mail drops. Home-based businesses can avoid hassles with local zoning and licensing
requirements by using the street address of a convenient mail drop. (Most localities
will not issue business licenses to a residential address.) Businesses that want to
expand their “horizons,” can use mail drops in major cities to show they are “Big time,”
or mail services overseas to show they are now “international.” An address
CAN convey much meaning, especially when those communicating never meet.

FINANCIAL PRIVACY
The address of a mail drop in a distant city can be the “base” for opening secret
bank accounts, creating dummy companies for billing purposes, or for setting up secret
accounts for investing discreetly. Foreign mail drops can be used for the same
purposes, with the added benefit of being beyond the reach of the IRS and FBI. When
foreign ID is used to open accounts offshore, those accounts are assumed to be of that
“nationality,” and will not be revealed to US. agents seeking information about
“Americans. ”

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
The hot targets of U.S. law enforcement today are drugs, pornography, and
money laundering. People who use mail drops to further these activities will receive
no help from the services., Indeed, most operators are quite sensitive to potentially
criminal mailings and will alert local authorities in a hot second. Anyone doing crime
can only expect the consequences. Mail drops will not knowingly put themselves in
the position of “aiding and abetting,” so be advised.

NEW IDENTITY
The use of mail drops in creating new identities is invaluable. They can help
create total separation between the old identity and the new. They can also assist in
helping establish the “age” of the new identity by serving as a conduit for old school
and employment ‘“records. ” People who want to take on a new identity in the future
can take their time and begin compiling their “history” in advance of the time they wish
to slip totally into the new identity. The one major requirement for this task is that
they KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT. Arranging for a mail drop to retain sensitive
papers under a special code name is a very discreet way to ensure ultimate success.

WHAT CAN A MAIL DROP DO FOR YOU
The following list of services should give you a broad view of what most mail
drops offer their customers. While some have kept somewhat to the obvious business
of mail receiving and handling, many others have expanded into areas of special
interest to small, startup businesses. See what they might offer you.
1. No waiting time for a private mail box.
2. You can use their street address as your own
3. You can use code names, or your business names to receive mail.
4. You can call the mail drop to see if you have any mail (and they will likely
tell you where it’s from, if you ask).
5. You can access your mail 24 hours a day at most services.
6. You can receive and ship via UPS, FedEx, and other shippers.
7. You can have your mail forwarded (or kept) as you require. This means
even remailing under another name if you request it.
8. You can keep your actual residence secret, since the mail drop is not
required to reveal it to non-law enforcement agents. If you use a Post
Office box for commercial purposes, however, the Postal Service WILL
reveal it to anyone who asks, even if it is your residence. Some people
will use their prior residence (or even a fictitious one) when setting up
service at a mail drop--just in case, The truly cautious will use the address
of some other mail drop.
9. The Postal Service requires Form 11583 (Application for Delivery of Mail
Through Agent) to be used by mail drops, and it asks for two forms of ID.
While we do not suggest using fake ID, it could be used since the
application is never “checked out. ” One copy goes to the Post Office and
the other stays with the mail drop. ONLY if the customer becomes the
target of a criminal inquiry will the information on the application be
reviewed. Most of the mail drops in our Directory will accept applications
by mail, phone, or fax.
10. Having a distant mail drop re-mail your letters from their location can give
correspondents the idea that you are out of the area, perhaps on an
extended vacation. If they are mailed from a distant foreign country, you
could create the notion that you may never return.. .
11. Here’s a short list of some of the business-related services now offered at
many mail drops: Typing; Resumes; Copying (including color); Notary;
Printing; Business cards; Fax sending/receiving; Telegrams; Western Union
and Moneygram; Desktop publishing; Legal forms; Newsletter publishing;
Rubber stamps; Secretarial services; Word processing; Spanish translation
in border areas.
12. Mail drops can serve as a form of “safe-deposit” since you can mail to
yourself and instruct them to hold all mail until further instructions.
13. Many mail drops also have sideline businesses that can be useful to their
customers: Lock smithing and key duplication; Accounting and tax services;
Passport photos; Office supplies; Packaging and shipping supplies; Gifts
and postcards.
14. In situations such as divorce and change of identity mail drops can offer the
advantage of having time and space-in advance. Planning for the “‘event”
is easier when correspondence remains secure and arrangements are made
without the pressures of a crisis. Further, the step into a new identity or
lifestyle is much easier when such matters as bank accounts, trusts, title to
property, and background data have been secured in advance.