Inspectors: 'Lights, Camera, Action!'

Inspector Reldys Torres (background) is interviewed by Program Specialist, Management Analysis and Planning Group Twana Barber (foreground). Photo: Bladismir Rojo

“Lights, camera, action!”

This week six U.S. Postal Inspectors in the Miami Division participated in Consumer Alert News Network (CANN) segments to educate consumers on fraud prevention. The CANN initiative, which began in September 2012, features 60-second video segments of Inspectors --- and sometimes victims --- who talk about various crime topics and ongoing scams.

Miami Division Inspectors Luis Abreu, Blanca Alvarez, Bryan Masmela, Alexandra Papageorge, Ivan Ramirez, Bladismir Rojo, and Reldys Torres provided cases and/or were interviewed. Senior Technical Surveillance Specialist Stephen Godlewski shared his experience posting a car for sale online and having an individual attempt to bait him into a scam. Twana Barber, Program Specialist, Management Analysis and Planning Group, of the Inspection Service Headquarters Team, conducted the interviews.

Over the past two years, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service nationwide has distributed hundreds of segments to television stations in the top 100 media markets. A calendar of anticipated events, such as charity scams during the holidays, help drive content. Case illustrations of local investigations and victim interviews help educate viewers on how scammers target consumers.