Got a package recently that was handwritten. Does it matter? I had assumed it was bad opsec and sent the vendor a message mentioning it, but I really have no idea. Thoughts?
Hand-written addresses?
Got a package recently that was handwritten. Does it matter? I had assumed it was bad opsec and sent the vendor a message mentioning it, but I really have no idea. Thoughts?
[7 Points] durgsrbad:
[3 Points] throwahooawayyfoe:
it made it to you and you're [i would assume] currently consuming the drugs. that's all that matters. if it made it that far, you have nothing to worry about. people here honestly have no idea how much mail gets sent around the globe every day with handwritten everything on it and just how well it actually blends in. literally the only failure point here is the fact that some postal worker might eventually notice a bunch of packages with the same handwriting on them. this is easily mitigated, however, if your vendor uses different blue boxes across multiple cities to send out their orders.
[1 Points] bfsco:
Its really a vendor issue in my eyes...obviously it can be an buyer issue if it gets opened and a cd occurs, but when your mother/grandmother/friend sends you christmas cookies or a card or a box of old possessions they certainly aren't printing out a label and slapping it on the box...they're writing it in...however...most vendors use businesses as they're return addys and have you ever seen a business send you mail with hand written addresses? I haven't.
That's really what it comes to in my eyes....handwriting from an internationally watched nation or business is a huge flag...handwriting from a domestic PERSONAL address would look pretty normal. That said, why take the risk and not use printed labels anyway as a vendor.
[1 Points] FagDamager:
i think its because the handwriting can be matched with the vendor, and also there is the profiling aspect. since you got it, you should be cool. there is so much mail being delivered and the addresses are handwritten, so i guess its not the end of the world.
[1 Points] Vendor_BBMC:
Most private customers sending a letter address it by hand. Mail order businesses generally don't.
We don't always want to look like a mail-order business, and quite a few orders come in via mobile devices.
People over 25 are quite happy writing a letter by hand, or addressing an envelope. Don't insult their intelligence by suggesting somehow that writing with a pen is weird.
just think of it as a font where the letters are never quite the same twice.
[1 Points] SirDolo93:
I would not say its bad opsec, because hand written addresses on mail is expected for most mail getting sent out with a stamp. I guess it can be considered good opsec, as it blends in better with all of the other mail.
The only downside to hand-written addresses, is that that some vendors accidentally mess up the address, most cases its because they have hand writing comparable to a kindergartner.
Its not the end of the world when hand written mail is sent out with such careless mistakes in the address, because the mail will eventually be reviewed and most often the employee at the sorting center can easily fix the mistake made in the address, and then have it sent out to the correct designation. However mistakes like this, increase the delivery time, and give the unwanted attention to the mail in question.
I for one prefer printed labels, simply because the vendor will copy and paste what you wrote, thus removing the issue stated above.
However, some people think they have some slick stealth, and they print the address directly on the envelope, along with a fake company logo, (some of these idiots don't even use a fake company logo, they will use a real company logo.) and then they slap on a regular stamp on the envelope. Have you ever received a phone bill or even any legitimate junk mail with a physical stamp? No, most mail from companies have registered envelopes by what ever main mail carrier that country uses. This means the envelope is essentially the stamp, well its printed on the envelope.
So if a postal workers spots something that resembles junk mail with a normal stamp. Suspicions get raised, that some times even results in a thorough overview of the suspected junk mail.
However, some vendors actually do have very good stealth, which is not always the best thing either, and this is why, you know how pretty much any email service you use, you have a inbox, and a junkbox. All the emails you should be expecting goes into the inbox, and all the spam and junk, goes into the junk box. The people sending the spam/junk do not specifically ask to be sent to the users junk box. Its sent there because the email service being used has a spam filter, which does a good job separating the mail you want, and mail you don't want. But the Spam filter is not perfect, so they might block mail that you may have actually wanted, you know like those emails that say something about hot women wanting your dick, or something along those lines.
Real life physical mail kind of works the same too, just picture the spam filter being the postal facilities, the inbox being your mail box, and the junk mail being the trash bin at the postal facilities, but unlike the email service, you don't have access to the junk box. So there can be times when a Vendor actually uses very good stealth enough to fool the postal sorting facilities into thinking the mail is legitimate junk, which is not a good thing because that mail gets thrown out, and you wont ever know.
It seems, I may have drifted a bit off topic lol, but its worth to mention hand written address don't get thrown away in the "junk" bin at the postal facilities, even if it meets all requirements to be considered junk. Someone took there time to write that address. It will get treated like actual mail.
[0 Points] InfinitelyOutThere:
Easily profiled and not professional.
Not very professional, but it's hardly the opsec demon the masses seem to make it out to be. Got listed once in something official as a telltale sign of a suspect package, but further reading of the list revealed basically anything that wasn't an underpaid migrant in the post office required the bomb squad's attention.
Ain't that big a thing. Wouldn't worry.