The List

Her

The database had over 50,000 records. Individuals, 65-70, middle-class zip codes, homeowners. The kind who’d be thinking about retirement.

P.O. Box 4117. Two numbers off from the real ones. Close enough.

She dialed Eric’s number again. Saturday morning, but these old guys were up early anyway.

“This is regarding your Medicare enrollment. We need to verify your employer coverage…”

Something felt off. Too many questions. When she mentioned mailing the forms, he went quiet.

“Mail me the paperwork. I don’t discuss finances over the phone.”

Classic paranoia. Fine. Real SSA forms, just the box number changed. Perfect documents because they were perfect.

Three days later, her phone rang.

“I’ve filled out the employment form. Confirming the address—P.O. Box 4117?”

She smiled. “That’s correct.”

“Funny. The real SSA uses 4115 and 4201.”

Her blood went cold.

Outside her window, three unmarked sedans approached.

——

Him

The voicemail was professional. Government terminology. Just the right amount of urgency.

But something felt wrong. He’d applied for Social Security, sure. But this call felt… scripted.

“Mail me the paperwork.”

Actual forms arrived in a few days. Still suspicious, he verified the forms by calling the SSA on the instructions “SSA” had sent. Legit.

Almost. The urgency. She had called again. Almost raced to the post office to mail the forms.

Instead, he uploaded documents to AI. Photos of the return address. Asked AI more questions.

He called the real SSA the next day. Asked about P.O. Box 4117.

He hung up and opened his laptop. Started typing his report to the SSA Office of Inspector General. Mail fraud. Fraudulent P.O. Box usage. Sophisticated identity theft operation.

Every detail. Every phone number. Every document.

He hit send.