McCall’s Mail Fraud Scheme Nets $656K, Lands Him in Hot Water

MONTGOMERY, AL – Edmund Lee McCall, 39, of Montgomery, Alabama, is facing serious time after a federal jury found him guilty yesterday of orchestrating a brazen decade-long scheme to steal identities and defraud banks. The verdict followed a grueling five-day trial before United States District Court Judge William H. Albritton, but wasn’t a clean sweep: co-defendant Vanessa Valease Gordon, a United States Postal employee, was acquitted of the same charges.

The feds say McCall was the ringleader of a criminal conspiracy that stretched from approximately 2004 to 2009, preying on unsuspecting Americans. The operation centered around pilfering mail – specifically, credit cards and personal information – directly from the United States Postal Service. McCall then employed ‘runners’ to collect the stolen mail, delivering it to his Montgomery home. There, he’d leverage online services to dig up basic details about the victims.

But McCall didn’t stop there. He outsourced the heavy lifting to co-conspirators in Georgia, granting them access to Experian credit reports. This allowed them to unearth sensitive data like dates of birth, addresses, and, crucially, Social Security numbers. Once compiled, the information was shipped back to McCall, who’d then activate or reactivate credit cards in the names of his victims. To further conceal his tracks, McCall utilized a voice masking service called “Spoofcard” to bypass security measures when activating the stolen cards.

The scheme didn’t rely solely on stolen credit cards. McCall also proactively commissioned fake identifications for himself and his crew, anticipating potential scrutiny when making purchases with the fraudulently obtained cards. He and his accomplices then racked up charges and cash advances, lining their pockets at the expense of over 110 victims. The total financial damage? A staggering $656,417.46 in losses to financial institutions.

McCall is now staring down a potential prison sentence of 20 to 30 years on the conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud count alone. Each of the six counts of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum of two years, meaning his total sentence could be significantly higher. The investigation was a joint effort between the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service and state bureaus of investigation in Alabama and Georgia.

Assistant United States Attorneys Denise O. Simpson, Tommie B. Hardwick, and Donald Valeska spearheaded the prosecution. The government isn’t commenting on why Gordon was acquitted, but sources say the jury struggled with proving her direct involvement in the core fraud. For press inquiries, contact Clark Morris at usaalm.press@usdoj.gov or (334) 551-1755.