PolitiFact – No evidence fake postal workers are robbing people at gunpoint

A frightening warning is circulating on social media, advising people to beware someone who may appear to be a U.S. Postal Service worker. 

“Please be alert the United States Postal Service uniform store was broke in over the weekend uniforms were stolen & they are wearing them showing up at people homes stating they have a package for them & when the door is opened they force there way in robbing people at gun point & tying them up getting away with money & valuables,” reads the warning.

One post sharing it was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook.)

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, told PolitiFact the agency was unaware of any thefts of postal uniforms. 

The Facebook post included a comment that this happened in “Nutbush, Tennessee,” so we also reached out to the postal service’s regional office in Tennessee. A postal inspector based in Memphis said it has “no information related to the claim,” adding that Nutbush is a “very small rural unincorporated community.” The inspector said she doesn’t think they have a postal service uniform store there. We didn’t find evidence of one, either. 

Searching for news articles about fake postal workers robbing people at gunpoint, we found only coverage of mail carriers themselves being held up. 

If evidence emerges to corroborate this claim, we’ll reconsider our ruling. For now, it’s False.