Title 39, Postal ServiceRelease 119-102
§3003 Mail Bearing a Fictitious Name or Address
Title 39 › PART IV — MAIL MATTER › CHAPTER 30 — NONMAILABLE MATTER › § 3003
Summary
The Postal Service can hold mail and ask for ID and proof you have the right to get it if it has good evidence someone used a fake name, title, or address to carry out or help with crimes under 18 U.S.C. 1302, 1341, or 1342. If the person won’t prove who they are, or the Postal Service decides the name or address is fake, it can send the mail to the dead letter office as fictitious matter or return it to the sender.
Full Legal Text
Title 39, §3003
Postal Service, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Upon evidence satisfactory to the Postal Service that any person is using a fictitious, false, or assumed name, title, or address in conducting, promoting, or carrying on or assisting therein, by means of the postal services of the United States, an activity in violation of section 1302, 1341, and 1342 of title 18, it may—
(1)withhold mail so addressed from delivery; and
(2)require the party claiming the mail to furnish proof to it of the claimant’s identity and right to receive the mail.
(b)The Postal Service may issue an order directing that mail, covered by subsection (a) of this section, be forwarded to a dead letter office as fictitious matter, or be returned to the sender when—
(1)the party claiming the mail fails to furnish proof of his identity and right to receive the mail; or
(2)the Postal Service determines that the mail is addressed to a fictitious, false, or assumed name, title, or address.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective July 1, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–9 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
39 U.S.C. § 3003
Title 39, Postal Service
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102