USPS logo LINK — USPS employee news Printable

Heroes’ corner

South Carolina employees help prevent scam

James Island, SC, Customer Services Supervisor Marcelino Santos and North Charleston, SC, Letter Carrier Mary Kay Frank.
James Island, SC, Customer Services Supervisor Marcelino Santos and North Charleston, SC, Letter Carrier Mary Kaye Frank. Photo: The Post and Courier

Two days after a South Carolina widow buried her husband, she received a phone call informing her she was the beneficiary of a $25,000 life insurance policy. To claim the benefits, the widow was told to mail $5,500 in prepaid gift cards to the caller.

The woman mailed the cards and then told a niece, who suspected it was a scam and alerted North Charleston, SC, Letter Carrier Mary Kaye Frank.

“I felt so sorry for them,” Frank told The Post and Courier, a local newspaper.

She contacted Customer Services Supervisor Marcelino Santos, who contacted the Postal Inspection Service. Before all was said and done, the widow’s envelope was intercepted and the gift cards were returned to her.

Frank said she was happy to help, but she also credits Santos.

“I knew he would give it 100 percent,” Frank said. “He just has that personality to care enough to really jump in there. I just left it in his hands, and he ran with it.”

Post-story highlights