Strange Package from Passport Office

[ChrisA Edwards]

A couple of weeks ago, the wife and I mailed in our application for renewal passports to Philadelphia.

Yesterday, I received a notice from UPS that a package would be arriving, overnight, by 10:30am today.

A package did arrived and it contained this.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/Switch2.jpg
To me it looks like a '+' key for some kind of keyboard or machine.

This picture is 3 on these, showing the back, front and side. The '+' is spring loaded.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/Switch1.jpg

[Adam Herman]

keep the box and call the post office and passport office someone may have stolen your passport. the mail you got makes the passport office think you received it.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Already spoke to the passport processing center. Our applications are in the works being processed in SC.

The package, with the strange contents came from Dover, NH.

The second person, at the Passport Office, has requested that I send these items back, with an explanation, to their Sterling,VA location.

Only 45 more States to get involved.

[Kev Williams]

it's not a "+" button, the cross is what holds the actual keycap, which will have the female + to snap it onto to switch. Not sure of the application, looks like a panel-mount version of a typical computer key switch.. ?

[Jim Becker]

Was the return address the State Department or affiliate?

[ChrisA Edwards]

it's not a "+" button, the cross is what holds the actual keycap, which will have the female + to snap it onto to switch. Not sure of the application, looks like a panel-mount version of a typical computer key switch.. ?

Ah yes, that makes sense.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Was the return address the State Department or affiliate?

The return address was the State Dept. in Sterling VA.

The package originated in Dover, NH, according to UPS tracking.

[Bill Dufour]

maybe if you plant them you will get rich. All those pluses you know. Sure they did not come from China?
Bill D

[Dan Friedrichs]

Those are mechanical keyboard switches - mechanical in that they use a linkage/mechanism to give a better "feel" than "cheap" keyboards that use a rubber membrane that flexes.
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/novelkeys-cream-switches

[ChrisA Edwards]

Those are mechanical keyboard switches - mechanical in that they use a linkage/mechanism to give a better "feel" than "cheap" keyboards that use a rubber membrane that flexes.
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/novelkeys-cream-switches

Wow, I had $650 worth of them in that bag.....

I sent them back, with a letter of explanation, to the main Dept. of State Passport center.

I bet I get them back in a couple of weeks, not that I'll know what to do with them.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Anything from pass port office would come USPS, not UPS, unless you were in a foreign country and had lost / stolen pass port.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Anything from pass port office would come USPS, not UPS, unless you were in a foreign country and had lost / stolen pass port.

I called UPS to verify where it was picked up from/originated, along with a letter from the Passport Dept.

It's still a mystery as to why this came to me.

[Jim Becker]

I wonder if it's a variant of the recent "seeds from China" thing which was basically a scheme where a company creates a fake purchasing account on a platform like Amazon and uses real names and addresses (but fake email accounts) to create glowing reviews after sending a package of similar size and weight to the real addressee. They actually have to ship something to get a "verified buyer" designation on the fake reviews. I believe the term for this scheme is "brushing".

[ChrisA Edwards]

Conspiracy theories...Let's keep them coming... :)

This was the UPS shipping label and the enclosed letter, address redacted.

Someone took the time to create this letter, with my name and address on it, and also pay next day delivery by 10:30AM and mail $650 worth of parts.

I actually contacted the people in Dan's link, to see if this order may have been for one of their customers. They replied, but do not believe the parts originated from them.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/SwitchLetter(1).jpg

[Erik Loza]

So, does this mean someone was able to get Chris' address from the Passport office? Or just weird coincidence? I'd never heard of "brushing" before this.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Bizarre that the letter ever references the parts by name! LOL

[ChrisA Edwards]

I think they just copied what was written on the ziploc bag.

That's why I don't think this is anything malicious.

It's just weird that it came from NH as we mailed our Passport renewals to PA and know that they are in process in SC.

What piece of paper came across someone's desk, with my name and address, and ended next to a packet of switches.

[Bert Kemp]

sell them on ebay for the bargain price of 5 dollars each save a dollar fifty:D

[Gary Ragatz]

sell them on ebay for the bargain price of 5 dollars each save a dollar fifty:D

Don't want to get too carried away here. According to the web page @Dan Friedrichs provided a link to, these things are worth $6.50 for a package of 10. The OP has $65 worth.

[Bert Kemp]

Don't want to get too carried away here. According to the web page @Dan Friedrichs provided a link to, these things are worth $6.50 for a package of 10. The OP has $65 worth.


have you read all the post OP said he had $650 worth Read post number 10.

[Gary Ragatz]

have you read all the post OP said he had $650 worth Read post number 10.

That was my point - the web page @Dan Friedrichs linked to is a little confusing. At first glance, it looks like the switches sell for $6.50 each (Quantity 1), but at the bottom of the page, it says "These switches are sold in packs of 10. Quantity 1 = 10 switches." The OP received 100 switches (per the note on the baggie) - $65 worth.

[ChrisA Edwards]

My mistake, I didn't see the price for 10 ($6.50), but anyway, the switches are now back in the hands of the US Passport Office.

[Roger Feeley]

Sometimes, trying to do the right thing can be downright painful. A few years ago, the house next door was for sale and unoccupied. I was out walking the dogs and noticed that UPS had delivered a box to the front porch. I looked at the shipping label and saw that the person to which it was addressed was not the person who had lived there. So I took the box to my house and started making calls. I contacted the seller and they contacted the person that charged it. It was a local name just a few blocks away and they knew nothing.

Long story short, someones ID was stolen and the thief ordered some stuff and had it delivered to an unoccupied house so they could pick it up later.

The only remaining task was to get the ill-gotten gains back to the seller and that's where things didn't go like they should have. Customer service treated me like something they just dug out of their ear. All I wanted was a return shipping label which I would be happy to affix and then I would take the box back to UPS. It took almost a half-hour to get through to someone who would do it. I must have told the story to 6 different people. I have to admit that I was tempted to keep the 200 blank t-shirts for paint rags but I stuck with it. No one ever said thank you.

[Frank Pratt]

Sometimes, trying to do the right thing can be downright painful. A few years ago, the house next door was for sale and unoccupied. I was out walking the dogs and noticed that UPS had delivered a box to the front porch. I looked at the shipping label and saw that the person to which it was addressed was not the person who had lived there. So I took the box to my house and started making calls. I contacted the seller and they contacted the person that charged it. It was a local name just a few blocks away and they knew nothing.

Long story short, someones ID was stolen and the thief ordered some stuff and had it delivered to an unoccupied house so they could pick it up later.

The only remaining task was to get the ill-gotten gains back to the seller and that's where things didn't go like they should have. Customer service treated me like something they just dug out of their ear. All I wanted was a return shipping label which I would be happy to affix and then I would take the box back to UPS. It took almost a half-hour to get through to someone who would do it. I must have told the story to 6 different people. I have to admit that I was tempted to keep the 200 blank t-shirts for paint rags but I stuck with it. No one ever said thank you.

Good on ya, Roger. I think I'd have just given the seller a call & left it up to him to sort out the shipping.

[Bert Kemp]

and thats why if I ever find a well's fargo bank bag laying in the middle of the road with a million dollars in it ITS MINE because if you call and say hey I found your money they will treat you as if you stole it and not even a thank you when you return it. Well I'd think about keeping it but in the end well you know ITS NOT MINE damm it.:cool:

[Roger Feeley]

Frank, sometimes I get curious and don’t give up just to see how long silly behavior will go on.

— I went to a local car dealership just to sit in a Ford suv to evaluate leg room. My sil was going to buy a Toyota Highlander and I wondered if the ford would be better. The salesman was very nice so I asked him for his business card explaining that, if my sil was interested, I would pass the card to him. The salesman balked at giving me the card. Wait, what? It took a half hour and two consultations with his manager before he would give me his business card. I stuck around to see just how crazy these people were.

— I stood at the checkout counter at Best Buy for 15 minutes trying to buy something. Two employees passed by. One said he was on break. The other said, “not my job.” Most folks would have given up much sooner but again, I was curious. I did finally leave and got what I wanted on Amazon.

[Frank Pratt]

There is a certain amount of entertainment value there alright. I can see the Best Buy scenario, but the car dealership? They usually try to cram their cards down my throat as soon as I walk in the door. Takes all kinds I guess.