The US Civil War bolstered the need for efficient mail delivery. In 1861, one could write “soldier’s letter” on an envelope and the recipient would pay the postage. In 1863, Congress passed legislation that mail delivery in cities could be free! To reliably send funds from a battlefield to home, a money order system was established in 1864.

With such a reliable way to transmit money, fraud went from coast-to-coast.

Fraud is the intentional deception of another for some type of gain. Mail fraud adds the element of using the post office. The improved postal system during the Civil War created a phenomenal opportunity for con artists for the following reasons:

  • Greater access to more people
  • The use of a vetted method of communication
  • Benefit vs. cost

Regarding cost, from 1863-1958, mailing a letter cost 3 cents or less, and stamps were a form of currency at various times and places, including in prisons today. As for the vetted method, many have faith in government institutions, helping them trust what they receive in the mail.

Knowing this, bad actors stole from many unsuspecting people.

 

Mail Allowed Scammers to Widen Their Net

The key to all scams is found in the fraud triangle:

The MOTIVATION is to make money. The OPPORTUNITY is to find ways to convince people to trust you enough to give you money. The RATIONALIZATION could be many things, such as that people won’t give more than they can afford, or that it’s a victimless crime, or maybe that those who fall for a scam deserve what they get.

What kind of scams could be pulled? We’ll discuss a few, each with a different rationalization:

  • Charity Scams: One day you get mail at your home in Vermont and find a letter asking if you would become a pen pal to an orphan in Oregon. These orphans cannot go to school and are in great need to keep up their penmanship, and you can help. If you would like to take part, it would require very little. Just reply with some stamps. Writing supplies would be very helpful, as well. If you don’t want to reply, perhaps your community can collectively “adopt” this young child. When communication starts, you’ll be glad you decided to do this because you soon learn that the child is suffering a bad winter, and then was kicked by a horse bringing a doctor’s bill of $3.00, and then learn it’s been such a dry Spring
    • The scammer does not feel bad because surely no one would send more to a stranger than they could afford. Plus, it makes them feel good, and that’s worth something, right?
  • Investment Scams: As a banker in West Virginia in 1880, you receive a letter offering an early invitation for a bond issuance in Kansas. The pitch is this: Now that Reconstruction has ended, and so many former slaves re-settled from Tennessee to Kansas, some are starting a new town. You can buy bonds for as little as $5.00 and they will pay twice the going bond rates, which will be guaranteed by the State of Kansas. Why are they offering you this opportunity? Because West Virginians were brave enough to separate from the Confederacy, and saved them from bondage. Could it possibly be true that the State of Kansas would guarantee the returns? Yes. When refugees, called “Exodusters,” came to Kansas, the governor stated it was the duty of all Kansans to help their new black neighbors, and solicited help from other states. The only problem is that the deadline for bond purchase is [date that requires immediate response]
    • The scammer does not feel bad because it’s not a person who is buying these fake bonds, it’s institutions – the kind that really should know better, but also the kind with money to spare
  • Land Scams: Following the Civil War your North Carolina town is severely depressed. Among your many troubles are that you’d like to shed the pain and humiliation by starting fresh. You’d like to go West, but are unsure of how you’d do it, or where you’d go. Also, you sure as heck aren’t going to get involved with some program involving President Grant! You and your neighbors receive offers to relocate to New Mexico Territory where you’re told that you can purchase a lush, fertile homestead. Land is so plentiful because people don’t yet know how great it is! And statehood is coming soon, meaning that lots of jobs will be forming and they’ll need legislators and senators – men like yourself to help write the new Constitution. While farmland around the US averaged $18 per acre, you could purchase 20 acres for $100, 100 for $500, or 1,000 for $2,000. Why are prices so low? Because there’s so much land! Many have ponds packed with fish, woods full of game, fruit-bearing trees and berry-producing bushes. Just send back $5, $10, or $20 as a down payment, depending on the kind of estate you wish to build, and the territorial supervisors will arrange interest-free financing, and send you your provisional deed
    • When these traitors send their money, it’ll be a great victory. The only reason they are suffering is because they are still anti-Union. Whatever they get, they deserve. Also, to fall for this they’d have to be too foolish to keep their money anyway

To be able to reach so many people for so little money and effort provided a tremendous opportunity to commit fraud. Such easy access could be very motivating.

In the early 20th century, a US Senator found himself involved in mail fraud.

 

US Senator’s Involvement with Mail Fraud

Senator Joseph Burton (R-KS) became the first of his office to be convicted of a crime.

What happened was this: In 1902, a get-rich-quick scheme company out of St. Louis was under investigation by the Post Office for their use of the mail in facilitating fraud. They hired Senator Burton to represent them for $500 per month, which was more money than a Senator made. In the course of his representation, he allegedly advised that certain documents be destroyed.

How does Burton fit into the fraud triangle? He was in deep debt (motivation), was solicited by someone (opportunity), and other people in office also made money outside of their salary, so why shouldn’t he? Additionally, he had to maintain residences in Kansas and Washington, which was hard to do on – possibly – a pay cut (rationalization).

Over the course of 3 trials and about 4 years, he was found guilty. He maintained his seat in the Seante, but only appeared twice during this time – and 1 of those times was to qualify for $1,000 worth of travel reimbursement. He resigned his US Senate seat in 1906, was sentenced to 6 months in prison, paid a $2,500 fine, and then re-engaged in the practice of law.

Today, mail fraud still exists, but it’s also rampant over email and text messages.

 

Email Fraud

The very first spam email was sent in 1978 over the system ARPANET. It was an advertisement, and people were royally pissed. As a failed marketing attempt, it was not repeated for quite some time.

Fast forward a few decades and we get the first conviction for spamming with the case against Nicholas Tombros. The FBI’s page on this matter paints it in vague brushstrokes that are both frightening and moral – using the term “war-driving,” which means he was tapping into other people’s Internet connections. The morality portions deal with sending messages over systems he didn’t pay for and the content of the messages: Pornography.

NBC later reported on a “timeshare spammer,” who sent emails related to helping people get out of their timeshare. He got in trouble because of deception in the return email address, as well as the failure to leave an unsubscribe option within the message.

 

Where there is a way, scammers find the will to commit fraud. Some stats state that the cost is in the billions each year. To protect yourself, the USPS offers information about 6 kinds of rampant scams. In 2022, they secured 470 convictions

 

Additional Sources & Reading

Free, Clinton. “Looking through the fraud triangle: A review and call for new directions.” Meditari Accountancy Research 23, no. 2 (2015): 175-196.

Karim, Asif, et al. “A comprehensive survey for intelligent spam email detection.” Ieee Access 7 (2019): 168261-168295.

Kobrin, Joshua A. “Betraying Honest Services: Theories of Trust and Betrayal Applied to the Mail Fraud Statute and 1346.” NYU Ann. Surv. Am. L. 61 (2005): 779.

Lee, R. Alton. “JOSEPH RALPH BURTON AND THE” ILL-FATED” SENATE SEAT OF KANSAS.” Kansas History 32, no. 4 (2009).

Moohr, Geraldine Szott. “Mail Fraud Meets Criminal Theory.” U. Cin. L. Rev. 67 (1998): 1.

Sebba, Mark. “The visual construction of language hierarchy: The case of banknotes, coins and stamps.” Journal of language and politics 12, no. 1 (2013): 101-125.

Vuic, Jason. The swamp peddlers: How Lot sellers, land scammers, and retirees built modern Florida and transformed the American dream. UNC Press Books, 2021.