Mount Hood

Mailroom PSA

Online ordering of products and supplies has become the standard for most of us, and in many ways, it’s improved how we do things. It gives us wider access to products, often at better prices, and frees up time to focus on other tasks while we wait for deliveries to arrive. But like any system that works well, it was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to take advantage of it.

Over the past several months, the USPS has been dealing with a noticeable increase in the use of fraudulent postage labels, primarily by small-business-type third-party sellers operating through large platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. These sellers often remain anonymous and can easily switch accounts if one gets flagged for poor service or fraud. A news story out of the Midwest provides an example of how some of these operations function. While this type of fraud isn’t new, it’s becoming more common—and more problematic—not only for USPS but now also for the people receiving the packages.

Here’s why this matters to us: when we receive a package that has a fraudulent or insufficient postage label, we’re responsible for the missing postage—plus an additional fee assessed as a fine. These fees are often significantly more expensive than the original postage cost. For instance, WOU received three boxes this morning with fraudulent postage. The total due came to $339.25—for a shipment that should have cost no more than $40 (These shipments were obviously refused and returned to the sender).

It’s important to understand that this isn’t the fault of the person who placed the order. But unfortunately, it’s often the purchaser who ends up bearing the burden—chasing a refund for an item that may never be delivered, and in some cases, dealing with a seller who disappears once the fraud is discovered.

I’ve been doing this a long time and have seen a lot of shipments come through our doors. Based on that experience, here are a few general rules I recommend following to make your online shopping a little safer and more reliable:


1. Always Check Seller Reviews—Even on Trusted Platforms

Just because you’re shopping on Amazon, eBay, or Walmart doesn’t mean your order is being fulfilled by those companies directly. Many listings are handled by third-party sellers, so it’s important to check who you’re actually buying from. Look for the “Ships from and sold by” label, typically just under the “Add to Cart” button, and click through to the seller’s profile.

If you see something like a 37% approval rating with only 19 reviews over the past 12 months, that should raise some red flags. A low number of reviews and a poor rating suggest a lack of reliability or experience—or worse.


2. Take a Look at What Else the Seller Offers

Visit the seller’s storefront. Does it look like a garage sale with a mix of random, unrelated products and very little inventory for each item—even though they’re calling themselves an “LLC” or “Warehouse”?

That kind of inconsistency is another sign that something might not be right. Reputable sellers tend to have a clear product category or niche, decent stock levels, and a longer history of operation. If the seller just launched a few months ago and already has dozens of questionable items, it’s best to be cautious.


3. Be Especially Cautious with Overseas Orders

Many international sellers are completely legitimate and have excellent practices—but unfortunately, this route is also frequently used by less reputable businesses. One common issue is return shipping costs that make it nearly impossible to get your money back if something goes wrong.

For example, a student once came to me after buying a sweater from an overseas Etsy shop. The item wasn’t remotely close to what they ordered, and they asked how much it would cost to send it back. The return shipping ended up being three times the price of the sweater itself—making the return financially impractical and effectively locking them out of a refund.

If you’re ordering from overseas, check the return policy and shipping costs beforehand. If a seller doesn’t provide clear return info or has a no-refund policy, that’s another red flag.


4. And Finally: If It Seems Too Good to Be True…

It probably is.

Basically, this comes down to preventing problems that might take a long time to untangle after the fact. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me.

– ABales
503.838.9473
balesa@wou.edu

Notifii Training: Logging in a package

Notifii Training: Logging in a package

First, log into your Notifii account at this address https://portal.notifii.com/login.php

The first page that will pull up is “Log Packages In”

Mandatory Data

(These three sections MUST be filled out. The system will not let you create a record without these being populated.)

If I’ve done my job correctly (lol) you should be able to search by the first piece of data; Recipient Name. This is not a binary system so be sure to use some critical thinking here if the student’s name doesn’t immediately come up; don’t just assume that they aren’t here.

The next section to fill out is the Tracking Number. It is very important that the CORRECT BARCODE be scanned in, so don’t get ahead of yourself when processing – A good general rule is that tracking numbers will be Alphanumerical ONLY; if there’s an underscore or an asterisk in the number, you scanned the wrong barcode.

Ways to find a person's record
  • Search just by last name and then see what options it gives you.
  • Search by the RSC Box number to see if it pulls up a name.
  • Set it aside and look up information in THD.
  • Look them up on the WOU website to see if there are any hits.
  • If you absolutely can’t find a match, please “Mystery” the parcel and give it to me only after you’ve exhausted all other avenues. 
Barcode scanning fixes
      My preferred method: Using the blue marker,

circle the barcode that you’ve scanned

      . This makes it clear to whoever else handles/delivers that package that this is the correct barcode/the one that has been scanned in.

 

You can also cover up any other barcodes using sticky notes or your hand when scanning in. I don’t like this method because if you scan barcode “A” to log it into the system, but accidentally scan barcode “B” when delivering the package – it creates a brand new record in the system, leaving the old one in. So then it looks like we still have the old one and everyone is confused and frustrated.