Two former U.S. Postal Service clerks in New York were charged on Sept. 25, 2026, in a scheme to take gift cards out of the mail. Prosecutors say Pian Pian Wong-Tam, 59, took at least 200 of them, worth $25 to $500 each, from mail she handled at the White Plains processing center. William Wong, 57, a former mail clerk at the Millwood post office, is accused of sharing in the cards. Both are charged with conspiracy to steal and unlawfully possess mail and with access device fraud, counts brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and Wong-Tam also faces a count of theft of mail by a Postal Service employee. Both are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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What prosecutors say happened

According to the Justice Department’s announcement, Wong-Tam was a mail processing clerk at the White Plains Processing and Distribution Center until July 24, 2026. From April 2025 to that date, prosecutors say, she used her position to take gift cards and other items from mail she was responsible for processing. The release says she shared the stolen gift cards with Wong, and that the two used them at businesses in several states.

The alleged total is no fewer than 200 gift cards. The investigation began after multiple customer complaints about damaged mail in which an expected gift card was missing, according to the office.

For anyone who mailed gift cards from the area between April 2025 and July 2026, the question is whether a card that never arrived could be one of them. The release does not publish a victim list or say how to report a missing card. The cards in this case were allegedly taken from the mail itself, and prosecutors do not say that any personal data was used to find them. Still, the same names and addresses that sit on envelopes are listed on people-search sites, and Incogni sends removal requests to those brokers for you.

The charges

Both defendants face the same counts. Each is charged with conspiracy to steal and unlawfully possess mail, unlawful possession of mail, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and two counts of access device fraud. Wong-Tam alone is charged with theft of mail by a Postal Service employee.

Most of those counts carry a maximum of five years in prison. The two counts of access device fraud carry up to 10 years each. The release notes that the maximums are set by Congress and that a judge would decide any sentence. Both defendants appeared that day before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in federal court.

What officials said

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said the charges reflect his office’s commitment to protecting the integrity of the postal system. He said stealing from mail entrusted to the Postal Service for delivery “is a serious federal offense that will not be tolerated.” Matthew M. Modafferi, the special agent in charge of the Northeast Area Field Office of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, said misconduct by postal employees “undermines the trust placed in the Postal Service and will not be tolerated.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Deal of the office’s White Plains Unit is handling the case. The charges are accusations, and no plea or trial date is listed in the release.

A separate case in Kansas

A different Postal Service employee pleaded guilty the same week in federal court in Kansas, according to KCTV5. David Alan Boutte, 60, of Olathe, who worked at the Blue Valley Post Office in Overland Park, admitted to one count of theft or receipt of stolen mail. Investigators found 141 gift cards and more than $1,600 in cash during a search of his home.

The station reported that a tip from a witness led the Postal Service’s inspector general to Boutte opening four postmarked letters not addressed to his home. Sentencing is set for Jan. 15, 2027.

The two cases are not connected, according to what has been published. They show the same thing: the people accused in both worked inside the Postal Service, where mail is handled before it reaches a mailbox.

What the Postal Inspection Service advises

The Postal Inspection Service’s mail theft page tells people to pick up mail promptly and to contact the sender right away if an expected check, credit card or other valuable item does not arrive. It says not to risk sending cash in the mail and suggests Signature Confirmation for important mail. The page does not mention gift cards by name.

Mail theft can be reported to postal inspectors online at uspis.gov/report or by phone at 1-877-876-2455.

Safer ways to send a gift card

The Postal Inspection Service page is the free, official place to start. For a gift card that has to travel by mail, its advice on Signature Confirmation is the closest match, since it ties delivery to the person it is meant for. A short call or text to the recipient on the day it should arrive turns a missing card into a known problem within days instead of weeks.

Before sealing the envelope, write down the card’s number, the amount and the date mailed, or take a photo of the front and back. The sender can then give the issuer those details if a card never shows up. A card that is already gone is easier to report when the paperwork is in hand.

The charges in New York are accusations, and the next steps are in court. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is the source for updates on the case against Wong-Tam and Wong.

Names on envelopes, names on broker lists

Gift cards were what the clerks allegedly went after, but the name and address on an envelope are listed openly on people-search sites. Incogni asks data brokers and people-search sites to remove personal information, sends removal requests on a person’s behalf and keeps re-sending them. Less personal data on broker lists can mean fewer scam calls, texts and emails, and the status of each request shows in the account.

Have Incogni send the data broker removal requests for the name on those envelopes →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.