Strange Letter

[thongd4me 69]

I don't know if anyone here has any input, but it seems like this the best place to ask, so here goes:

My co-worker has a roommate who is out of the country right now. She is not 100% sure of the roommates status, only that she is from China and was married to a USC who died...

Anyway, my co-worker's neighbor brought over a piece of mail saying that he accidentally opened it... he had put it in another envelope and did not include the original envelope in what he handed my co-worker

The letter looks like a color photo copy. The USCIS logo on the top looks fake, like it was copied from the website... there is no A number, or case number. No date at the top... and the whole thing seems kinda fishy to me...

The letter requests that her roommate report to the local USCIS office within 20 days??? It tells her to bring whatever documents, identification and personal or valued possessions she has??? WTH?? No appointment time, no number to set up an infopass appointment...

I am including a scan of this letter...

Anyone have any input on what this could be for, or if it's even legit??

The roommate is in China now, and my co-worker has no way of contacting her. She is not due back until June 28th, well beyond the 20 day window this crazy letter is giving...

*weird*

I don't think it's legit, but the ADDRESS is definitely legit - it may be someone trying to get the recipient to unwittingly turn themselves in for deportation.

[thongd4me 69]

Must be a scam and attempt to lure someone in and rob them - USCIS doesn't ma'am anyone let alone put the wrong zip code (missing a number) and they definitely have better grammar skills than what was presented in this letter.

And why would anyone bring valuable possessions to a USCIS appointment??

I'd say forget about the letter or maybe even report it to USCIS - too bad the original envelope is gone, they could've done some forensics on it to find out who sent it, when and from what zip code...

Edited to add: I just googled this address and interesting how it's not a USCIS office. Definitely report the letter and check with roommate when she comes back if she knows of any person who wants to harm her.

Not true, after I moused around the STREET VIEW the building clearly said "US Citizenship & Immigration Services"

The number is not a typo, but is on the USCIS website as well.

USCIS Addresses

That still doesn't mean it's genuine; probably someone wanting the victim to turn themselves in for unwitting deportation.

Maybe an enemy with an axe to grind.

[Bernie C 24]

In most cases people do not take this law very seriously, however opening another persons mail is a federal offense and may be punishable by a stiff fine and up to 5 years in prison.

1) Put the envelope and letter in a plastic bag.

2) Contact the Local Postmaster and request information on how to proceed (may need to wait until the roomate returns to take further action).

3) This Letter may also be classified as harrassment which may have more consequences to the neighbor if the roomate wishes to press charges.

While this may be just a joke by the "neighbor" I personally do not find it very funny at all. I would definately look into at least gathering more information about what can be done. If someone is going to this length to play a practical joke or scare someone who knows what they might do next.

Do not confront this person on your own and don't let your roomate when she returns.

[RPS 1]

Report it immediately and your neighbor.

[Miss smarty pants 84]

I have received a couple of letters with such poor wording and spelling notifying me that I have money due to me from Africa and if I will just send them $XXXX then they will be happy to send it to me. My first thought about that letter....especially if you look at any other letters you may have ever received from offical agencies, the verbage and misspellings are a red flag. How mean though for someone to do something like that. I would guess maybe that neighbor has issues.

[IndigoSkies 168]

This is blatantly a scam or a scare tactic by a racist xenophobe.

[MRStee 19]

I wouldn't report it. Just let it be.

[Cheyemo 8]

This seems to be a really mean prank. Some mentioned that the person did it to try and get the immigrant to turn herself in for deportation. But if she's in China now and planning to return, I doubt she's worried about deportation or that her status is illegal. Apparently the prankster doesn't know this...

[juliava 80]

Anyway, my co-worker's neighbor brought over a piece of mail saying that he accidentally opened it... he had put it in another envelope and did not include the original envelope in what he handed my co-worker

I would definitely suspect the neighbor. He came up with a fake letter but faking the envelope was impossible so he made up a story about an "accidentally opened mail". By the way that letter is such a dumb joke, a piece of paper full of misspellings and non sense.

[Kittyfang 6]

I would definitely suspect the neighbor. He came up with a fake letter but faking the envelope was impossible so he made up a story about an "accidentally opened mail". By the way that letter is such a dumb joke, a piece of paper full of misspellings and non sense.

I agree with Juliava. Honestly, who opens a letter "by mistake"... To me it sounds like the person showed you the letter to see if you'd notice it's a fake. Like, if you didn't notice, he was going to mail it in, or something.

I would report him. I was going to say that I can't imagine someone being that mean and cruel, but yes, I can imagine it. Heck, if this was me, I'd report the person and try to warn the girl.

[Rob and Jill 82]

What it does sound like is an a-hole neighbor trying to make his immigrant neighbor believe she's being threatened with deportation.

That is exactly what that is. OR if her status is in question he is trying to dupe her into turning herself in. What a jerk.

[scottsayson 0]

I don't know if anyone here has any input, but it seems like this the best place to ask, so here goes:

My co-worker has a roommate who is out of the country right now. She is not 100% sure of the roommates status, only that she is from China and was married to a USC who died...

Anyway, my co-worker's neighbor brought over a piece of mail saying that he accidentally opened it... he had put it in another envelope and did not include the original envelope in what he handed my co-worker

The letter looks like a color photo copy. The USCIS logo on the top looks fake, like it was copied from the website... there is no A number, or case number. No date at the top... and the whole thing seems kinda fishy to me...

The letter requests that her roommate report to the local USCIS office within 20 days??? It tells her to bring whatever documents, identification and personal or valued possessions she has??? WTH?? No appointment time, no number to set up an infopass appointment...

I am including a scan of this letter...

Anyone have any input on what this could be for, or if it's even legit??

The roommate is in China now, and my co-worker has no way of contacting her. She is not due back until June 28th, well beyond the 20 day window this crazy letter is giving...

*weird*

I have spent a little time in San Francisco and I live close by. That address is in the middle of Chinatown. You should get a few big guys with baseball bats to go check it out.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I agree with Juliava. Honestly, who opens a letter "by mistake"... To me it sounds like the person showed you the letter to see if you'd notice it's a fake. Like, if you didn't notice, he was going to mail it in, or something.

I would report him. I was going to say that I can't imagine someone being that mean and cruel, but yes, I can imagine it. Heck, if this was me, I'd report the person and try to warn the girl.

Actually I do and have done. So have my parents. We get a LOT of mail and just open it all at once. It's rare but it happens when I'm talking to someone and forget to "check" that it's mine.

It also has happened at my work several times. We simply put it back in the envelope and sticky-taped it shut. We then wrote "opened in error" and the firms details on it and gave it to the person it was supposed to be given to.

That said, if the guy was like us and opened the mail "in error" he should KNOW where the envelope is. It is likely that he opened the mail all at once, put the envelopes in the bin and then took the rubbish out where it was collected IMMEDIATELY.. but the likelihood of that is pretty small.

My next issue is this -- unless the OP blanked out the friends details.. how did the neighbour know it's not his? How did he know is was intended for someone else because it doesn't list a name anywhere. This isn't funny if it's supposed to be some joke.

Also, if he knew it was for the OP's coworkers housemate, surely as a neighbour he'd have noticed she's not there atm?

Extremely strange but so obviously fake.

Edited May 18, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[illnevergetthis 5]

I would absolutely report this. I also believe it is the neighbor trying to scare your friends roommate.

[JAPrincess 27]

My next issue is this -- unless the OP blanked out the friends details.. how did the neighbour know it's not his? How did he know is was intended for someone else because it doesn't list a name anywhere. This isn't funny if it's supposed to be some joke.

Also, if he knew it was for the OP's coworkers housemate, surely as a neighbour he'd have noticed she's not there atm?

Extremely strange but so obviously fake.

The copy above was only altered in that we whited out the name of the roommate it was addressed to.

I don't know that the neighbor is aware the roommate is out of town as there are 3 people residing there...

regardless, the whole thing is strange and concerning...

I do not know what action they will take, but I thank you all for the responses...