How to flag possible fraud for hospice and palliative care staff in 2026

Q: Is Postal Buddy free for a patient's mail?

The older person's side is free forever. The web scam check is free and needs no account. A paid Plus tier costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day trial and no card needed when the first helper joins. A demo with a made-up family can be tried without an account.

A step by step way for hospice and palliative care staff to flag possible fraud in a patient's mail, what to have ready, and tools that can help.

By CleverDings · 2026-10-31

CleverDings is published by the makers of Benefit Buddy, Postal Buddy and Packing Buddy, which are compared here alongside other apps.

Get the patient's and the family's consent, keep incoming mail in one place, and check what each letter asks before anyone acts. An app such as Postal Buddy can photograph a patient's letter and flag suspected scams, but a person decides what to do. ^[1] ^[1]

Option	What it does	Cost
Postal Buddy	An app a helper photographs a patient's letter with; it tells the older person, in big print and out loud, what each letter is, shows a bill's amount and due date, and flags a suspected scam. ^[1] ^[1] ^[1]	The older person's side is free forever; Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day trial and no card needed when the first helper joins. ^[1]
A trusted family member or volunteer	Not published here; check whether they can review a patient's mail when it arrives.	Not published
A hospice or palliative care social worker	Not published here; check whether the care program reviews patient mail.	Not published
Adult protective services	Not published here; check how to report suspected fraud in your area.	Not published

What you need before you start

Most of the work is consent and knowing what mail usually arrives. Having those ready lets staff size up a letter in one pass instead of chasing papers.

Permission. Get the patient's and the family's OK, in writing where the facility asks, to look at and photograph the patient's mail. Some facilities only let staff handle mail with consent on file.
A home for incoming mail. Keep expected letters in one place, such as a basket. Anything left elsewhere is easier to act on without being read.
A list of usual senders. Note who the patient already hears from: the government, a health plan, utilities, a bank. A letter from outside that list deserves a second look.
A phone or tablet. Needed to photograph a letter so the older person can see it large or hear it read.
A known way to check a sender. A phone number or account page for an expected sender, so a letter that asks for money can be checked against a real contact.

Step by step

Put consent on file. Note that the patient and family have agreed to review the mail, in writing where the facility asks. Keep this with the care record.
Collect the mail in one place. Gather the day's letters into a basket so no one acts on a single envelope in a hurry.
Read the sender and the ask first. Look at who sent the letter and what it asks for before doing anything else. A letter from outside the usual list gets read slowly.
Check a bill against what is known. Look at the amount and the due date, and compare them with what the patient expects and what a helper knows. An amount that has changed a lot is worth checking.
Do not pay or call from the letter. When a letter asks for money, personal details or a phone call, use a number already held, not one printed in the letter.
Flag what looks off. Set aside anything that asks for money, is urgent, or names a sender the list does not cover, so it is not lost among expected mail.
Record and report. Note the date, the sender and what the letter asked. Tell the family, and when the pattern looks like fraud, report it to the local authority and note who received the report.

Tools that can do it

Several options fit this job. Choose based on how often a helper is available and whether the patient wants a tool to explain the mail.

A trusted family member or volunteer. A person who sits with the patient, reads each letter out loud and checks what it asks. Check whether the person can be reached when mail is delivered and whether they will note what they flagged.

A hospice or palliative care social worker. Check whether the care program's staff can review a patient's mail and who to reach between visits.

Adult protective services. Check how to report suspected fraud for an older person in your area and what to include in a report.

Postal Buddy. Postal Buddy is made by the team that publishes this site. A helper photographs each letter the patient gets, and Postal Buddy tells the older person, in big print and out loud, what it is. ^[1] The app can read its explanation of a letter out loud. ^[1] For a bill, it shows the sender, the amount and the due date. ^[1] For a suspected scam, it says not to pay or call the number on it, and Postal Buddy says it never calls a letter safe. ^[1] The older person does not have to sign in; family helpers sign in. ^[1] A web scam check is free and needs no account, tells you what looks wrong, and says nothing is kept. ^[1] On the no-cost side, a Monday email with how many letters came goes to one family member. ^[1] Plus adds a Monday email on what needs doing, what was caught and what changed. ^[1] Plus also includes alerts for a scam asking for money, a bill about to go overdue, a government letter, or a bill that jumped. ^[1] The app is made for phones and the web. ^[1] A web app is listed, but the Postal Buddy website says 'Opening soon'. ^[1]

Common mistakes to avoid

Acting on a letter alone. A scam asks for fast action. Never pay or call a number from the letter before checking the sender another way.
Treating a flag as a decision. A tool or helper says a letter looks off; the staff and family decide what to do, with the patient's say.
Skipping consent. The mail is the patient's. Check the facility's rules and keep consent on file.
Losing the list. Without a written list of expected senders, an extra letter is easy to miss.
Using a number from the letter. Confirm a sender through a known phone number or account page, not one printed in a suspicious letter.
Not recording. Note the date and sender of each flag so a pattern shows and can be reported.

Frequently asked questions

How can hospice and palliative care staff flag possible fraud?

Get the patient's and the family's consent first, keep the day's mail in one place, and look at each letter's sender and what it asks before anyone acts. Compare a bill's amount and due date with what is expected. When a letter asks for money or a call, use a number the patient already holds, not one in the letter, and record the date and sender. A tool flags a suspect letter; a person decides what to do next.

Can Postal Buddy explain a patient's mail in big print and out loud?

Yes. A helper takes a photo of each letter, and Postal Buddy tells the older person in big print and out loud what it is. ^[1] The app can read its explanation out loud as well. ^[1] The older person does not have to sign in; family helpers sign in, so a patient can stay seated while a helper uses the app. ^[1]

Is Postal Buddy free for a patient's mail?

The older person's side is free forever. ^[1] The web scam check is free and needs no account. ^[1] A paid Plus tier costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day trial and no card needed when the first helper joins. ^[1] A demo with a made-up family can be tried without an account. ^[1]

What does Postal Buddy do with a patient's bills and scam letters?

For a bill, Postal Buddy shows the sender, the amount and the due date. ^[1] For a suspected scam, it says not to pay or call the number on it, and it says it never calls a letter safe. ^[1] Plus adds alerts for a scam asking for money, a bill about to go overdue, a government letter, or a bill that jumped. ^[1]

Where does an app end and a person begin when flagging fraud?

An app says what a letter looks like, for example that a scam check shows something wrong without keeping the letter. ^[1] Staff and family decide what to do, confirming a sender through a known number before anyone pays or calls. A tool result is a hint, not a decision, and a record of flagged letters stays in the patient's notes.

Postal Buddy says the senior's side is free forever; Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day Plus trial and no card needed when the first helper joins. ^[1]

Try Postal Buddy

Sources

Postal Buddy's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)