A seemingly ordinary storefront on a busy Los Angeles street was allegedly operating as a sophisticated "fraud factory," potentially serving as the nucleus for numerous identity theft operations. The business, identified as "Mailbox LA" with "Anytime Mailbox" branding, is suspected of facilitating schemes to open fraudulent lines of credit and secure unauthorized loans.
Investigators say the Burbank Boulevard location was connected to nearly 100 P.O. boxes, raising concerns that these addresses were used to receive sensitive financial documents linked to stolen or fabricated identities. Fraud expert David Maimon, whose company SentiLink detected the suspicious activity, described the operation as "a fraud factory that people are walking past, running past, driving past every day and [they’re] none the wiser."
SentiLink's investigation indicated that approximately 80% of the addresses associated with the location were used to create new bank accounts, while 10% involved attempts to take out new loans using stolen identities. These identities were either entirely synthetic or belonged to actual victims whose information had been compromised.
Anytime Mailbox, a virtual mailbox service, has stated it has no affiliation with the "Mailbox LA" business operating at the site. The U.S. Postal Service confirmed that the location was never registered with the agency, a mandatory requirement for private businesses handling mail through the postal service.
LA County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Pete Hish characterized the operation as a "new level of identity theft," noting the boldness of establishing a physical location seemingly dedicated to receiving mail associated with fraudulent activities. The disappearance of the mailboxes from the storefront is seen as evidence of how easily such operations can relocate and evade detection.
Attempts to contact the individual listed as the owner of the shop were unsuccessful, and a Google search yielded no official listing for the business. Among the individuals registered with a P.O. box at the location, three contacted individuals reported living overseas and having no connection to the address.