Mail carrier credited for busting up alleged fraud scheme

Mail carriers deliver mail from the post office to the appropriate mailboxes every day. One mail carrier in Orlando knew his route and his customers well enough to know something was not right.

LAKE MARY, Fla. - Mail carriers deliver mail from the post office to the appropriate mailboxes every day. One mail carrier in Orlando knew his route and his customers well enough to know something was not right.

Ronaa Ali, 71, has been getting her mail and packages from the same mail carrier in Orlando for years and the two have built quite the relationship. So much so, that that relationship likely saved Ali thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

She noticed something odd when she was searching through her mail one day.

"I saw where I became a member of the Navy Federal Credit Union. I said, ‘Oh no. That ain’t the way that works,’" Ali said.

She received letters from the Navy Credit Union addressed with her name but to the wrong address. She called the bank and an employee asked how she got the mail if it was sent to the wrong address, so she asked her mail carrier why he delivered the mail to her.

"I said, ‘Did you put it in my mailbox?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, because I knew you didn’t live there," Ali said.

Ali recognized the address as a location where her son’s former wife, 38-year-old DeShawndre Bridley lives. She also noticed Bridley had been recently posting about money on social media.

"When that happened, I said ‘Oh, no. She’s messing with the wrong lady," Ali said.

Ali said she gave Bridley her personal information in 2018 to do her taxes. Orlando police say they found Bridley then used that information to open two NFCU bank accounts and a $5,000 visa credit card.

Police said surveillance pictures show Bridley making transactions at an ATM. They said she then paid the minimum balance on the credit card to avoid tipping off the victim.

Mail carrier credited for busting up alleged fraud scheme

Mail carriers deliver mail from the post office to the appropriate mailboxes every day. One mail carrier in Orlando knew his route and his customers well enough to know something was not right.

Until someone noticed and did.

"I would have had no idea and it could have been going on and on and on and Jason was smart enough to know the difference," Ali said.

According to USPS, there are some important ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of mail fraud. The agency said it’s important not to share any financial or personal information with anyone you do not know or trust, read the fine print on anything you receive in the mail, and block any unwanted telemarketing calls.

Watch FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.