107 H.R. 3009 Trade Act of 2002

(1) In general.--For purposes of ensuring compliance with the Customs laws of the United States and other laws enforced by the Customs Service, including the provisions of law described in paragraph (2), a Customs officer may, subject to the provisions of this section, stop and search at the border, without a search warrant, mail of domestic origin transmitted for export by the United States Postal Service and foreign mail transiting the United States that is being imported or exported by the United States Postal Service.

I think it was stated already but to make sure. Any MAIL leaving the country is open to inspection. Not only mail but any shippment they have the legal right to inspect. This also applies to incoming mail and shipments. This is just like customs at the airport.

DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANYONE.

If they contact you again, tell them, in the most polite way possible to go f themselves.

Email Stars and tell them whatever mailing address they're using has a lot of heat on it, and suggest they start using a new one. Somewhere in mainland England would probably be much better/safer.

Cancel the money order and get your money back and avoid their calls. If they get you ask them 'am i legally required to answer your questions'? They'll probably give you some hardass answer that basically means no but sounds like yes. If they say you don't have to answer (no matter how they word it) just hang up the phone.

You may want to x-post this is the legal forum to get some advice from lawyers.

Isn't it illegal even for them to open your mail?

I'm going to draw a big penis and send it to the Isle of Man. I suggest you all do the same.

I'm going to take a dump in a box and leave a printout of the Stars logo with it.

dude never talk the the authorities tell them none of your business if you want talk to me again heres my lawyers name mother ****er

cancel the money order

email stars

if contacted again tell them you have nothing to say with out a lawyer

easy game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik

AFAIK in Ireland they have to warn you that there is a suspicious package/letter addressed to you and invite you to the opening of same. That's for mail coming in to the country obv.

While you all can cop the big bad attitude's. it is not in your best interest to be non-coorperative. Jacking with the Fed's is not a good idea, before you know it the IRS is up your tailpipe or worse. This may not be a big deal for those that are 20 years old and working as a shift manger at McDonald's, but as a general rule you will loose every time.

Acting arrogant or "offended" is probably not the way to proceed here. Even though your mail is completely harmless, it has in some way been flagged by postal inspectors.

Your reaction seems to be like u caught your neighborhood mailman sniffin around in your business. But unfortunately for u this is a pretty serious federal agency, that is going to be closely linked to other serious federal agencies such as IRS and Homeland security.

Even though the agent u spoke with on the phone was a bit overzealous, u prolly should try and be as cooperative and truthful as u can. Once this is moved up the chain, they probably will send your money order back to you along with a letter explaining the current anti gambling statues involving on line poker sites.

May take a while but i'm sure you'll get your money back w/o any conseuences. I know it suks but being polite and cooperative is your best move.

obviously dont be a jerk but you should absolutely be non cooperative. Whether you are breaking the law or not you shouldnt be providing assistance outside your lawyers advice to the authorities when they are coming at you.

It's a free country, they can do whatever they want

McDonald's called you need to be in an hour early..

lmao @ the postmaster general calling your parent's house about your $600 money order to a site that the government allows to place commercials on TV every 2 seconds.... what a pos joke country US is. This busybody official is probably getting paid 190k per year to investigate these serious incidents. DHL your money order next time... it is probably less likely you'll have busy bees opening up your mail.

This. All these heroes ITT would be stammering non-stop if anyone in authority contacted them as the OP alleges.

Go ahead and start in with the, "Talk to my attorney" b.s. Whatever you say is noted (probably recorded) and if you catch someone in a pissy mood they will flip the doomswitch on you and you'll have dozens of THEIR attorneys up your ass and also a referral of your being un-American being sent to the IRS and Homeland Security.

This.

If it is true, wait for something in writing. Don't say anything over phone.

I agree. I just don't think the post office can open mail just because it is going out of the country. And then they ask if it's okay for another agency to call him???

If the conversation actually did happen then it may have been someone looking to scam OP.

As I understand the law, it regulates financial institutions and their ability to process deposits to online poker sites. Just as it is not illegal through the US to play online poker (that's regulated by state law), it is not illegal for you to make a deposit, although it may be illegal for the organization who processes your deposit. Therefore, the criminal in this case is not you, but the USPS.

It sounds to me like the USPS is trying to get heavy handed and scare individuals into not making deposits, however the law does NOT regulate individual players, only those entities who processes their deposits.

I would definitely contact the Poker Players Alliance about your situation and get their expert advice, as most attorneys will have no idea what the UIGEA is.

[?] level


Countless pieces of mail/packages are sent outside the country everyday. No one has time to open any of them unless they might look like suspicious packages.


A tiny piece of mail will just be on its way. The "agent" has no way of knowing the name you are sending to is gambling related.

They probably have a list of "suspicious" destinations, and open a higher percentage of that mail.

Im 31 and odds are I am in a higher tax bracket then all you "mcdonald" talkers. I have been arrested 3 times and even absent that probably have more life experience than all of you "mcdonald" idiots combined. If you are the type to **** yourself and make a bad decision when you get a phone call from a federal agent you are probably the one that is much more likely to be working in a mcdonalds at some point in your life. Hopefully in the future when you say the wrong thing to the wrong person and piss your life away.

Everyone who thinks the mail can't be opened, have you given this any serious thought? You don't think they would have the ability to open packages if they think people are shipping drugs, explosives, firearms, or other contraband across the border? I'd be very surprised if they couldn't.

Not that I'm saying they can or should be able to open something like this, just saying the idea that there's a blanket restriction against opening any kind of package sounds pretty silly to me.

The number of armchair lawyers in this thread is astounding.

1 - Yes, the goverment can read your mail. Anyone that thinks that they have privacy over this is incredibly naive. It's called "The Patriot Act" . . . look into it

2 - Do any of you have any idea how much it costs to retain a lawyer that will deal with the feds? At MINIMUM you're looking at a retainer of 20-large just to get started. Guess what? The feds know this. Any talk of lawyers would probably be met with, "Look, sparky, we know you can't afford a lawyer, so STFU and don't make me come down there and arrest your ass"

3 - You can tell them "kiss my ass" all you want but this call served a purpose. It's called establishing "guilty knowledge". The feds have now given you the knowledge that what you're doing is illegal and they have documented their contact with you. So that means that if they catch you again, there's no "but I didn't know!" defense in front of the judge. Someone else may or may not contact you, it doesn't really matter, the purpose of the call has already been met.

but what ur doing is not illegal