May 25, 2026
One San Francisco senior was flooded with mystery mail for nearly a year. Dorothy Lathan, 93, began receiving mail addressed to various businesses under her home address. What began as a call to her granddaughter turned into a months-long investigation.
The case drew the attention of one news outlet and at least one criminal expert. It’s a troubling reminder of how little control you have as a regular citizen over certain types of fraud, even if you do everything right.
The Chocolate Squirrel affair
Lathan told ABC7 the whole affair began with a piece of mail addressed to ‘Chocolate Squirrel LLC,’ under the name Carlos. At first, she thought it was a mistake. She called her granddaughter, who confirmed no, she didn’t fly by the moniker “Chocolate Squirrel.”
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But then the mail kept coming.
Lathan began receiving mail from two other LLCs addressed to her residence. “I just wrote return to sender, return to sender!” Lathan said. But the envelopes kept coming back.
“Finally I said, ‘What is this?’” Lathan said.
An investigation by ABC’s 7 On Your Side team discovered each business was registered with the California Secretary of State’s office. These ‘businesses’ listed Lathan’s home as the principal address. A ‘Carlos’ was registered as the agent for all three companies.
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Something fishy
Lathan, at one point, suspected title fraud, which is where someone illegally transfers the title or deed of your property without you knowing. “Scared to death that they might take my home!” Lathan said.
Indeed, one expert agreed there was something fishy going on. “Because there are multiple business names with her address, that’s a pretty good flag that someone is basically trying to hide themselves,” Eva Velasquez, CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, told ABC7.
The root cause of Lathan’s mystery mail is still unclear. It could be a case of identity theft, which the Department of Justice defines as “all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data for fraud.” For example, applying for and opening credit cards under your name. It’s also been a big year for money laundering, the practice of setting up shell companies to move dirty money. The US Sentencing Commission says money laundering offenses are up 44% since 2021.
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Since Lathan’s name wasn’t on the mail, Velasquez told ABC7 she suspected scammers were using Lathan’s address for quick approval of a business or loan.
“By using an established legit residential address, they can push those applications through much faster,” Velasquez said. “They can circumvent some of those extra checks.”
What to do if it happens to you
One thing you can do is check your state’s Secretary of State website. As ABC’s investigation showed, a search of your state’s Secretary of State business database can reveal whether any LLCs are registered to your address. The 7 On Your Side team searched California’s Secretary of State database. Other states may have equivalents.
Next, you might report suspected mail fraud to the US Postal Inspection Service. Their own page lists identity theft and mail fraud as reportable. Just be sure not to open mail you think isn’t addressed to you, as doing so is technically a federal offense.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says to report identity theft at www.identitytheft.gov. Doing so generates a personal action plan. The FTC also says to contact credit bureaus and place a fraud alert. Doing so tells businesses to check in with you before opening a new account in your name, a good way to foil scammers who might open cards in your name.
One caveat, however: Even if you do everything right, the mystery mail might continue. Lathan says she reported her case to various agencies, including the post office, the postal inspector, the Secretary of State, the San Francisco Assessor’s Office, four banks, the tax board, the county board, the police, and the FBI, but her case is still not resolved.
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Cole Tretheway has been covering money for four years. He started as an intern at The Motley Fool Money, covering best-of credit cards, savings accounts, and financial products. He's since expanded into wholistic personal finances, including the psychology of money.
