# Can you send mail with no stamp and put the recipients info in the return address? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487 "2001-09-03T04:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zeteja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ea5d25/32.png) [@zeteja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeteja)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/1 "2001-09-03T04:21:42Z")
Why can’t you cheat the postal service and not use a stamp on your letter. Just put your info in where it is supposed to be sent and who you want it to go to in the return address? ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/2 "2001-09-03T04:25:50Z")
It’s called mail fraud. You want to risk the Federal Pen for $.34? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/3 "2001-09-03T04:28:06Z")
Because postal workers are repressed psychotic murderers, not idiots. Unless all you respondents have exactly the same zip code as you, it is fairly obvious that you are attempting to perpetrate a thirty-four cent fraud. It’s five years, or fifty thousand dollars, by the way, if things go other than you expect. Perhaps the thirty-four cents is a better choice. :wally ## Tris Rule of Reason: “If nobody uses it, there’s a reason.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/4 "2001-09-03T04:29:15Z")
Intra-city, that might work. If you live in Peoria and you’re paying a bill to Chicago, when the Peoria post office first sees your envelope (with no mark indicating Chicago has touched it) they are going to get really suspicious really fast. If they decide that you were trying to bilk them, they their inspectors come out and explain the level of fines nad the number of days in jail that postal fraud can carry. If you send a letter with no return address and no stamp, they will open it up to determine who sent it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/5 "2001-09-03T04:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by warmgun \* > \*\*It’s called mail fraud. You want to risk the Federal Pen for $.34? \*\* Indeed, it violates Section 1725 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. [http://www.chiprowe.com/articles/mail.html](http://www.chiprowe.com/articles/mail.html) ---
**Author:** ![custard\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@custard\_dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/custard_dragon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/6 "2001-09-03T04:38:58Z")
Actually, I once…knew a kid, yeah that’s the ticket…knew a kid who did this a number of times. This kid I knew actually managed to send letters several hundred miles away using this method. He stopped when he realized it was mail fraud and NEVER, EVER did ANYTHING illegal again. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-send-mail-with-no-stamp-and-put-the-recipients-info-in-the-return-address/79487/7 "2001-09-03T05:52:30Z")
We fight ignorance; we don’t provide aid in breaking the law. This thread is closed. **DrMatrix** — General Questions Moderator