Leery Letters and Parcels
The U.S. Postal Service and many delivery companies deliver
millions of letters and packages all over the world, without
incident, every day. Still anthrax threats, white powder incidents
and other biological terrorism threats may cause you to be
a little wary about the mail.
The U.S. Postal Service urges you to use caution and common sense when dealing with suspicious packages. Here are some guidelines from the U.S. Department of Commerce on typical characteristics of suspicious letters and parcels:
- A powdery substance on the outside
- Unexpected mail envelopes/packages from someone unfamiliar to you
- Excessive postage, handwritten or poorly typed address, incorrect titles or titles with no name, or misspellings of common words
- Addressed to someone no longer with your organization , or are otherwise outdated
- Have no return address, or have one that cannot be verified as legitimate
- Unusual weight, given its size, or lopsided or oddly shaped
- An unusual amount of tape
- Marked with restrictive endorsements, such as "Personal" or "Confidential."
- Strange odors or stains
View FBI Parcel Advisory (PDF)