Patent ID: 8005764

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving data corresponding to a unique postal indicium at an online postage system having a first computer and storing the data in a database, the data being received over a computer network from a customer system at a third-party location after printing of the postal indicium; comparing, with the first computer, scanned information derived from an image of the postal indicium affixed to a mail piece, the image being obtained by scanning the mail piece with a scanner, and received over the computer network from a reading location against the stored data corresponding to the postal indicium, to determine if the scanned data matches the stored data, if it is a duplicate, and if it is otherwise suspected of being fraudulent, the postal indicium bearing a delivery point code for an address written on the mail piece; receiving, with the first computer, a delivery point code read directly from the postal indicium affixed to the mail piece, when the postal indicium is address dependent; responsive to the receiving, comparing at the point of automation using the first computer the delivery point code read from the postal indicium with an address read from the mail piece, and checking a flag in the postal indicium that identifies a status of the delivery point code, wherein when a delivery point code is printed on the mail piece and the flag is set, the flag indicates that the delivery point code has been validated before being printed on the mail piece; sending mail handling instructions, responsive to results of the comparing of scanned information, the determining and the comparing of the delivery point code, from the online postage system to the reading location via the computer network regarding how to handle the mail piece to which the postal indicium is affixed; and sending information, responsive to the comparing of scanned information and the comparing of the delivery point code, from the online postage system to an automatic revenue protection processing system via the computer network, wherein the automatic revenue protection processing system includes a second computer adapted to make an adjustment to a balance in an account associated with the mail piece mailer based on the information sent from the online postage system; wherein the first computer has a processor and a memory pre-programmed with stored instructions to perform the comparing steps, the receiving step, and the sending steps.