US Postal Service has new policy for change of address: 'Would have had no idea'
FILE - A driver drops a letter into a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail drop box at a post office in Covington, Kentucky, US, on Saturday, July 2, 2022. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has made some changes to its new address policy — and it requires a few extra steps that consumers will not want to miss.
The USPS has created the new policy in order to properly verify the identity of customers.
"Today a customer that submits a ‘change of address’ request must have their identity verified," James McKean, senior public relations representative, told FOX Business.
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"There are three ways to initiate a change of address request: online, visiting a local retail office, or submitting the request by mail," McKean also detailed.
"If the customer does not go into a retail location and present proper identification or they do not enter the activation code [they receive], their change of address is not activated."
Meanwhile, a man who says he works for the USPS created a TikTok page under the handle @gbrodgers, which appears to be dedicated to news about the postal service.
The man recently went viral with his own personal public service announcement for those who are moving.
In the video, the apparent delivery man details the new addition to the "change in address" policy made by USPS.
The old policy required dwellers to submit a "change of address" form to the nearest post office or submit it online, the TikToker detailed.
FILE - A U.S. Postal Service mailman driving a Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) delivers mail to businesses in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
The new policy has the same initial steps as before — but now it requires homeowners to confirm their address change via a QR code sent to their email.
"You must then take your ID or driver's license with that QR code and take it to the post office in-person," the delivery man continued.
The reason behind this change in policy is to steer clear of fraud.
"This is to avoid any kind of fraud where someone would just go online and make a forward in your name," @gbrodgers shared in his video.
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FOX Business reached out to the TikToker for additional comment.
The posted video has garnered over 1.8 million views and has been liked over 161,000 times since its initial posting.
Many social media users contributed to the conversation by thanking the original poster in TikTok's comment section.
"Thank you!! Explains why I haven’t been getting my mail as much since moving a few weeks ago," one social media user commented.
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"Had that happen on my route. [Two] houses on the same street, same temporary forward dates. I stopped and talked to the customers to see if it was legit," wrote another commenter, who is seemingly a postal worker.
"Thank you! Moving soon and would have had no idea," a different TikTok user added.
Other users shared how difficult they feel it could be to travel to the post office during working hours and present the form of identity.
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"I understand that but some of us work during post office hours and can't leave," one person wrote.
The additional step may be arguably challenging, but the USPS requires patrons to show up in order to process the "change of address" request.