Irondequoit woman inundated with mysterious Chime bank mailings addressed to strangers
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. – A woman in Irondequoit has received so much mail from one online bank that the envelopes cover her entire kitchen island.
Francine Beth laid out every single mailing she got from the online bank called Chime, and these are just the ones she hasn’t thrown out. Every single one has her address but a different name, and inside is a debit card with an account number and routing number.
Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “What do you think about your countertop right now?”
Francine Beth, inundated with Chime mailings: “Uh, it’s a little crazy.”
Berkeley Brean: “This is a week and a half of mail?”
Francine Beth: “Yep.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble for mail fraud,” Beth said. “I want to take it back to the post office, but I would be making trips to the post office every other day.”
Beth says Chime promised to remove her address from a mailing list, but that was weeks ago and the letters keep coming. News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean went to bat for Beth, but the only number was a customer service line that put him on hold for four minutes.
Berkeley Brean: “There’s nobody who can take my phone call? I have to email somebody?”
Brean emailed and tweeted at Chime, but so far has not received a single response. The post office says Beth can write “REFUSE” on the letters but that won’t stop the next batch getting delivered as the paid postage guarantees delivery. Some of the names on the mailings are Paula Smith, Lisa Legno, Margaret Canfield, and Judith Mattice.
Berkeley Brean: “Do you recognize any of the names?”
Francine Beth: “No. No.”
Berkeley Brean: “All right, what do you want to see happen here?”
Francine Beth: “I’m curious what it is, and I’d like it to stop coming to my mailbox. I’d like to know that my address is somewhat secure. And whoever and whatever they’re trying to do here probably needs to be looked into because something is not right.”
Beth says when they eventually got in touch with Chime, they were instructed to cut up every single envelope and every card and disperse them in different garbage cans. She believes at this rate, she’s going to have to do that every single day.
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