Have I just messed up - someone sent a letter to my address registered and I have just handed it over!

[MsFogi]

A lady turned up whilst we were having dinner to ask if we had received a piece of registered post for her. I got her to show my the photo from Royal Mail showing it had been delivered and it was in our post box (which I hadn't yet emptied today) so I let her have it. But I am now wondering if I did the right thing - why on earthy would someone end up with their registered post being delivered to my address (not my name but my address)? Is this the start of some sort of scam/someone registering something to my address? I am starting to worry now that I am thinking about it.

Yikes, yes, that does sound a bit like a potential scam

did the envelope feel like it had a card in it?

do you remember the name on the envelope? It might be worth checking your credit file for any ‘linked names’ for your address?

Personally I’d be thinking some type of fraud, ie using your address for something linked to her etc, I’m cynical and would have questioned more. But, that being said, it could be totally innocent, wrong name given etc . Was she local to you ?

Do you have a ring doorbell?

v weird!

Who was it addressed to?

Struggling to understand!

Oh dear!
@SW1amp - do you mean checking with one of the credit agencies or is there somewhere else I should be checking?
@RoundaboutRacer not a ring but the doorbell does have a camera on it so I have her face (not that that helps much I suspect)

Was it definitely addressed to your address?

Rather than she just recognised your door/postbox and worked out it had come to you, from the picture?

Sound like a scam. Who was the letter addressed to?

It was addressed to Alice Turner at our address (there is no Alice Turner here)!

Where I live, registered post has to be signed for on delivery, is that not the case where you are?
Yes, it does sound like a scam.

Doesn't registered mail need a signature? Why was it in your letterbox?

Could be suspicious but might not be.

I would contact Action Fraud for advice.

www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Since covid posties have been no contact signing themselves but they should only do that if you actually answer the door or return it to depot.

If you haven’t already got one, create an account with ClearScore and Credit Karma

they will show all the accounts, mortgages, cards etc etc you have

And then there is a section for ‘linked people’ which are other people linked to you in some way, either from joint accounts or at the same address

if ‘Alice’ is taking our cards at your address, they might show here

but as Pp said, also report to Action Fraud

and get yourself a video doorbell because she might be back again

did the envelope feel like a card inside?

How long have you lived there?

If there was a picture of it being delivered then it was the tracked service and not registered/signed for. That's not a problem.

Keep an eye on the credit checking companies for anything suspicious and definitely dont hand over anything else, but it's also potentially someone just genuinely making a mistake when entering their address on an online form.
E.g. Scrolling down and picking Station Drive instead of Station Street, or number 2 instead of number 12.

An obvious explanation would be a neighbour in the same street with a digit error in the address ie 34 instead of 43. Can you ask neighbours if they know who she is? Or even your local post person.

It could be innocent. Recently we had a package misdelivered to our neighbour. The sender had put our name on it but accidentally selected the wrong house name on the drop down menu. Neighbour was honest and handed it over. No scam, just a mistake.

I would make sensible checks but not panic and jump to the worst case, I accidentally ordered some tickets to my old address that were sent registered and I didn’t realise until I got the email saying they had been dispatched.

When she showed you the photo of your door did it say your full address on it? Or could she have known beforehand that it would be addressed to your home?

She must have been expecting the letter, otherwise how did she know it even existed?

To answer some of the questions - there was a big 48 (so I take it tracked rather than registered/signed for (sorry didn't think about the terminology!!)) on the envelope and the girl had a photo of it sticking out of my letterbox (looking like it was from Royal Mail) - it was not sticking out when she came/I had to open the box.
You would not be able to work out my address from the photo of the post box.
We have lived here for a long time and she is not a neighbour (all of the neighbours in the block are on a WhatsApp Group/know each other) and she had driven to our house.

Tracked 48 does not require a signature. It does require proof of delivery, hence the picture.

It could be her mail, showing as delivered to neighbour. So she came to get it. But that would only be if the address was hers.

There was a thread recently by an OP that found out a business had been registered to her house. There were lots of useful advice there. Maybe sb can post the link?

Contact these people
They will make it more difficult for someone to take up credit in your name

www.cifas.org.uk/pr