U.S. Postal Inspectors alerting folks to "revenge fraud"

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- We all know relationships can go bad, but how far would you go to get revenge? One man went pretty far -- victimizing people by damaging their credit.

"You don`t know why it`s happening or who did it to you. Did we make someone mad, irate that they are trying to get back at us?" an anonymous fraud victim said.

This fraud victim wished to remain anonymous because she was victimized by someone seeking retribution in the strangest of ways for a perceived injustice.

"He decided he would bombard them with tons of subscriptions and mail order items causing them to receive billing notices and collection notices -- things that would negatively affect their credit," U.S. Postal Inspector Derik Thieme said.

One example: Magazine subscriptions. The suspect filled out dozens of forms and checked the "bill me later" box.

"In a given day, five or six at least and this was every day. I mean we had stacks of magazines. We worried about our credit report first," the anonymous fraud victim said.

"What happens is they received these products. They didn`t order them, but the companies want to hold them responsible for them to pay for them. Once it goes to a collector -- that is something that can be reported to a credit agency and bureau and can affect their credit report," Thieme said.

The victim spent days on the phone talking to the companies sending the magazines and merchandise to tell them there was a mistake.

Postal inspectors learned the victim and 12 others were targeted by a suspect already known to law enforcement.

"When somebody does something to violate laws that they had previously been warned to stop -- it doesn`t sit well," Thieme said.

The suspect was charged with mail fraud and got eight months in prison with probation.

The victim says she learned a lesson -- that she should have called officials right away to report the crime.

"I just hope it never happens again," the fraud victim said.

Contact 6 advises checking your credit report before it's too late -- at least once a year.

CLICK HERE to get a copy of your credit report via AnnualCreditReport.com.