Yesterday I came home to find two packages had been delivered by UPS from a company in the mid-west. These items were not ordered by me or anyone in my family and are not something someone would send as a gift. My name is listed on the packing slip as the recipient and the person billed. I called the company and they confirmed it was ordered in my name. They told me what type of card was used and gave me the last four digits, which do not match any of my cards. I checked all of my credit cards and bank accounts and there was no suspicious activity. I checked my credit report and there are no new accounts or recent credit pulls. Despite the lack of evidence of identity theft or credit fraud I can’t relax. Any suggestions what else I can do to reassure myself I am not a victim of fraud? The local police department will not take a report over the phone and will not say whether they will take any action, but I will file a report on my day off.
That’s weird. Do you have a common name that it couldn’t went to the wrong “Jane Doe”.
I can’t think why the credit card used wouldn’t be on your report if someone is tampering with your identity. I have had my credit frozen for probably the last 5 years and if I was you and this happened to me and my credit wasn’t frozen, I’d freeze it.
Did you pull a report from all 3 credit bureaus? They all can list different things.
Someone ordered them with a stolen credit card and were hoping to pick them up before you got home.
I remember seeing something about this on Clark Howard’s site. He is a consumer guru.
http://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/ups-and-fedex-warning-beware-of-deliveries-you-didnt-order/
We got packages from Amazon addressed to some random person delivered to our door (not any of the prior owners of the house). Our address. Mr. tried to return them to Amazon but they were puzzled. Mr. wrote return to sender, took them to PO, and just left them on the counter with a worker.
A police report is an option. However if someone is using a stolen credit card of another and sets delivery to your house it would be difficult to track down the perp. Would need the IP address of the perp from the seller. The victim is the true cardholder who will be reimbursed by the creditor, no longer a victim. My guess the perp lives in your area and made multiple purchases and tracks the goods and picks up. You got the packages before they did.
Do yourself a favor, contact the major couriers, fed ex, usps, etc. Provide your info and request a history. You may discover that this has been happening for a while.
Someone I know got two new iPhone 8s delivered to their house last week. They WERE ordered on their account (Verizon, I think), but not by anyone in the household. They returned them and got all the fees credited. That seemed odd to me that someone would pull that scam but have them delivered to the billing address. (Dumb)
Similarly, we had a few weird things ordered on our card and sent to our house. Paper dolls, “Teach Your Baby to Read,” etc. Never figured it out.
I would find this weird and disconcerting as well. Agreevthat the CCard was likely stolen and the thief likely lives nearby and hoped to pick up the items before you found them.
The Clark Howard article suggests another possible wrinkle. Hmmm, so much to ponder. I’m not sure the police would know what to make of unordered things that appear addressed and delivered to you. What is the crime, exactly?
My name is not particularly common so I don’t think it was an innocent mistake. I am returning the packages as the company has sent me prepaid labels to do so. I will confirm that the address on the return labels is the company’s true address. If they were charged on a stolen credit card hopefully the true owner will receive credit. If someone was hoping to intercept the packages at my house it makes me concerned for packages I have ordered. My dog walker brings in most packages but these must have been delivered after she left.
Not dumb, most people are at work when packages are delivered. Low risk, big reward if picked up. Dumb would be to have it delivered to their own house if they are up to no good.
Kohl’s delivered to my house a KitchenAid mixer that I did not order. Lo and behold it was charged to my account. I was told that the scammers just wanted the Kohl’s bonus bucks that were awarded to the purchaser. They used my shipping address but their email address to receive the bonus bucks. By the time I received the mixer they had already spent the bonus bucks. And then I had to lug that heavy thing back to the store.
Are you confident that your dog walker is honest? It seems to me that the one possible explanation is that someone you let have access to your home is involved in some sort of fraudulent scheme. Goods purchased with a stolen card are shipped to an address of an uninvolved person where someone involved in the scheme can pick them up.
If you haven’t done so already, do NOT tell your dog walker about the strange packages. If she is involved–and, obviously, I sincerely hope she isn’t–she may call the company to complain that the packages weren’t delivered.
Residential neighborhood? Comprised of 9 to 5ers? Low crime area? =target for this type of scam
Maybe somebody sent you a present, except you said it wasn’t something someone would send as a gift. So you opened the packages? What was it? Still sounds like an anonymous gift: Somebody else paid for it, had it shipped to you, listed you as the sender because they wanted to remain anonymous. If you don’t want it can’t you just have UPS return it to the sending company?
I remember a long time ago somebody left a box for my wife near the garage. My wife wasn’t expecting anything. She called the bomb squad!
I thought about the dog walker but I really doubt it. She has brought in at least a dozen packages for us this season. She has walked for us for a couple of years without problem and works for a very reputable company. I know money is tight for her (she has a couple of kids in college) but I would be very disappointed if she was involved. She knows nothing about this.
I did not open the boxes, but per the shipping label they are small fan type space heaters. They were ordered on consecutive days but delivered on the same day. There are only a couple of people outside my immediate family who send us presents this time of year and it wasn’t them.
The neighborhood is suburban, but has a fair number of stay at home parents and remote workers so it’s not totally deserted during the day. The packages probably were not spotted because UPS left them on the side of the house by the garage rather than by the front door.
D recently ordered something from WalMart. The item came (box somewhat damaged), then the next day 3 more of the same thing arrived. I had her call and they emailed the shipping labels and had them picked up by FedEx. I assumed it was simply an error on their part, since we only had 1 charge, but who knows how these things come about.
We were victims of a scam where a hacked credit card (not ours) was used to send a very cheap tee shirt from a major dept store to our address, with someone else’s name. The store’s online fraud dept told me what the item in the unopened package was, as well as the last 4 digits of the credit card used, and reported that those who steal card numbers will often do a trial of whether the card works on a small item before using it again for a big ticket item.
We had had credit card fake swiped by a criminal cashier at one of these stores a few weeks earlier, with attempts to make a major purchase at a branch of the store cross country an hour later (caught by our bank) a few weeks before this. Talk to the retailer’s fraud dept and see if they can connect the dots with you. It may not be random. Good luck!
I received an email from the current owners of our house; they moved in the beginning of April. There were two Amazon packages for my daughter, as well as a credit card; she lives out of the country, but uses our address for any US business. I could not imagine how anything would be delivered to that address as we have been gone for 8 months. I went right over to pick them up.
The packages and the credit card were all in her maiden name and she did not order any of them. She contacted Amazon and told them she had not ordered these items. We are talking about 2 $10 items, both with the same return address, but different divisions of the same company. The credit card turned out to be from her old Costco account that she had closed when it was still Amex. After talking to Visa, it seems they didn’t know her account was closed, so just sent her a new card, even though she isn’t a Costco member any more! Hopefully the account is now closed.
She has check her credit reports, credit card accounts, and Amazon account and all looks good. Amazon would not give her any information as to who ordered he items and/or with what card. I understand she is putting a freeze on her account for not in the event someone is trying to open and account in her name. Being as she hasn’t used her maiden name for 15 months, and the address used is not hers, I am hoping this was a one time thing and doesn’t cause her problems in the future. I have asked the current owners to notify me ASAP if they receive anything else.