Mail for a stranger who never lived at your address gets the same treatment as a former resident’s: mark it and send it back. A few kinds deserve a second look.
The quick answer
- Write “Not at this address” on the front. Don’t erase or mark over the address.
- Hand it to your carrier or drop it in a collection box. Don’t open it or throw it away.
- For catalogs and offers in that name, ask the company to remove the name from your address. Here’s how.
- Accounts or bills in your own name that you don’t recognize are the identity-theft warning sign. Start at IdentityTheft.gov.
When it’s worth reporting
- If credit cards, bank statements or collection notices in a stranger’s name keep arriving and that worries you, you can tell the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It takes online reports of suspected mail theft and other mail-related crimes.
- The FTC’s identity-theft warning signs are about your own name: accounts you don’t recognize, or a bill you didn’t expect.
- A scam that arrived by mail has its own USPIS mail-fraud report, linked from the same page.
What not to do
- Don’t open or destroy it. USPS notes that destroying mail meant for someone else may be prohibited by federal law.
- Don’t just toss it. Returning it marked is the only signal the sender gets.
Good to know
- Returned ad mail is usually thrown away by USPS rather than sent back, so the sender may never hear. That’s why the company request matters for catalogs and offers.
- Every kind of mail has its own move: what to write on mail for someone who doesn’t live here.
Sources
- USPS, How is undeliverable and misdelivered mail handled?: “Not at this address,” don’t erase the address, carrier or collection box; destroying mail not meant for you may be prohibited.
- FTC, What to know about identity theft; IdentityTheft.gov.
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Report a crime; USPS, Domestic Mail Manual 507. Last checked November 4, 2026.
Making it stop for good: How to stop mail for previous residents →
Or let us do it: Move-in Reset
Forward us your free USPS Informed Delivery preview. We spot former residents’ names, ask each mailer to drop them, and follow up until the mail stops. Mail from companies you use is never touched without your yes.
$25 one-time · Covers your first 90 days · Pilot opens this winter · No card today
You’re on the list
Mailbox Zero is independent and not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service.
