Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

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

84 replies

MsFogi · 30/06/2022 21:51

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.

OP posts:
Stevienickssnickers · 01/07/2022 07:17

There's always posts on our local Facebook book saying "does anyone recognise this door" and the picture from the courier. We've had random post before as there's a road with the same name in the next town and there's a xxxx road as well as a xxxx avenue, xxxx drive and xxxx close in our town

SaintJavelin · 01/07/2022 07:18

Scam, she’s got a credit card or something delivered to your address.

CallOnMe · 01/07/2022 07:18

This does happen.
Someone sent my DD a birthday gift but they’d put the slightly wrong postcode.
As it was tracked I knew where it went but they said they never got it (they obviously did).

Sounds like it was a simple mistake but like anything it’s always good to keep your eyes peeled for anything else suspicious.

Dozycuntlaters · 01/07/2022 07:19

I don't believe debt is now associated with addresses like it used to be. So surely, even if this was a credit card and a massive bill was incurred it wouldn't be linked to you. I could be completely wrong though.

dormouses · 01/07/2022 07:23

There was a similar thread quite recently about this - someone had set up a business registered at the OPs address. They received great advice, maybe try and search for it.

girlmom21 · 01/07/2022 07:23

I'd assume it was an innocent mistake

detectora · 01/07/2022 07:24

Stevienickssnickers · 01/07/2022 07:17

There's always posts on our local Facebook book saying "does anyone recognise this door" and the picture from the courier. We've had random post before as there's a road with the same name in the next town and there's a xxxx road as well as a xxxx avenue, xxxx drive and xxxx close in our town

Yes but these are normally when the courier has delivered correctly addressed post to the wrong house.

This item had the incorrect address on it, and it wasn’t just a wrong number because they drove. And I’m assuming OP would have said if the address was very similar or Close instead of Road etc.

PlopPlop · 01/07/2022 07:40

I live at “blank court”, there is also “blank terrace”, “blank close” and “blank drive” - a couple of times I have had to retrieve my post or parcels from one of these different streets because mistakes happen!

monopole · 01/07/2022 07:41

I recently order something from asos for the first time in over 10 years and the parcel got delivered to my old address. I didn't realise it had gone to my old address until I received an email saying it had been delivered.

I had to go round and knock on the door and ask them if I could please have my parcel.

Are you sure it isn't something innocent like this? It's really easy to accidentally do.

PlopPlop · 01/07/2022 07:43

Also as PP said credit history is about you the person not your address so even if it was a scam to obtain a credit card etc all that would happen is subsequent bills will be sent to your home and you just return them to sender. Doesn’t impact you at all

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 01/07/2022 07:50

I suspect it’s a scam. I’d have said “sorry, I’ve already popped it back to the post office as not known at this address” and would have done that the following morning.

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 01/07/2022 07:54

Common scam. Addressed to another address but delivered incorrectly to yours - ok to hand over. Addressed to your address - I would not hand over. I had a neighbour get really arsy with me as she used my address for an ASOS parcel. Her partner’s name so I didn’t recognise the name. My son took it in in error as thought it was for ndn. She posted the pic of my front door on our group. I quickly arranged a return (a hassle in itself without an ASOS account!) and returned it via post office and messaged her to say it had been returned and she replied ‘that was quick’ as if I’d done something wrong!! No way I was handing over an order addressed to my address.

PennyPinkPineapple · 01/07/2022 08:09

Wheelz46 · 01/07/2022 06:49

I work in fraud and unfortunately we see these sort of scams all the time.

The best advice, I can give is to obtain a copy of your credit report from Experian and Equifax, and sign up to Clear Score which is a free service that can be downloaded as an app on your phone.

Clear Score may not show any linked names/addresses but if anyone opens up anything using your full ID details it should show on there.

As an extra measure, if you are concerned, you can request a protective registration through CIFAS. It does delay any credit application made from your address as it will flag up as potential fraud but the fraud investigators will take extra measures to ensure it is a genuine application.

I just signed up to clear score out of curiosity and I have a credit card linked to a previous address (5+ years ago) that is active with a balance of £0. How do I close this account without any of the details?

IcedOatLatte · 01/07/2022 08:26

Blowthemandown · 01/07/2022 06:37

Round here loads of post goes to wrong address. People post the photo on a local FB group asking if anyone recognises and someone tells them where it is. Not necessarily anything suspicious going on. You can try and google the person/look on FB etc and see if you can set your mind at rest perhaps.

It's the same here, literally every day post and parcels end up at the wrong house no way are they all scams

Posters mentioning card fraud - has anyone ever had a card delivered by parcelforce? Every one I've ever had has come in a normal sized envelope in the normal post

motogirl · 01/07/2022 08:27

Could be by mistake, I've had to fetch post from 20 doors down because an older relative put the wrong number on and it was registered (birthday money)

Wheelz46 · 01/07/2022 08:30

@PennyPinkPineapple Does Clear Score show you who the credit card provider is?

Assuming it does, most companies should be able to locate your details, using your personal details you used to set up the account. If they manage to locate it, they should take you through some security questions which will be the details you set up on the account.

Icansleep · 01/07/2022 08:41

How long have you lived there?

Could she have lived there before you?

Wheelz46 · 01/07/2022 09:02

PP are correct in stating credit profiles are about the person and not the address.

However just because the mail doesn't have your name on it, it doesn't mean a potential fraudster will not try to change the account holder name using false documents.

nettie434 · 01/07/2022 09:03

Posters mentioning card fraud - has anyone ever had a card delivered by parcelforce? Every one I've ever had has come in a normal sized envelope in the normal post

I recently had to replace my cards after they were stolen and they all came in the normal post too.

As other posters have said, it's a good idea to check your credit record regularly so you can keep an eye out for scams. I sometimes get the wrong post but it's always been correctly addressed, just wrongly delivered.

Bookworm20 · 01/07/2022 09:21

I wouldn't get too worried unless it happens again. A friend of mine sent a birthday card for my daughter and put some cash in it, so sent it tracked delivery. She put the wrong house number on the envelope though, so it went to a house a few doors down.
Reason being we'd recently moved from say number 3 the street, to number 8 the road, and she wrote number 3 the road on the envelope.
Totaly innocent, so mistakes do happen. Only realised when the person who received it wrote a facebook post on the local town site asking if anyone knew who this person was they had received a tracked letter for.

Oceanus · 01/07/2022 09:35

coffeecupsandfairylights · 01/07/2022 03:40

Lots of paranoia on here!

I'd assume someone made an error writing or filling in the address and she only realised when the letter was marked as delivered to a different house.

Wouldn't even occur to me think it was some kind of scam 😳

Not paranoia, there was a thread recently and that OP found out they'd registered a whole business to her address...

WhenDovesFly · 01/07/2022 09:36

Did she offer any explanation OP as to why it had your address on it?

At the very least I'd have asked her to show some ID to prove she had the same name as on the envelope.

detectora · 01/07/2022 09:45

Wheelz46 · 01/07/2022 09:02

PP are correct in stating credit profiles are about the person and not the address.

However just because the mail doesn't have your name on it, it doesn't mean a potential fraudster will not try to change the account holder name using false documents.

Also if bailiffs turn up - and I’ve seen threads on here about that happening before - you’d need to prove the person doesn’t live there.

Greyarea12 · 01/07/2022 09:56

10 years ago I used to work for a very well known clothing company. It was regular thing that people would ordered hundreds of pounds worth of clothes and send it to someone else's address, collect it then never pay for it. This particular company were stupid enough not to carry out checks on people who were ordering on credit. This sounds like this.

Addictedtohotbaths · 01/07/2022 09:58

If it is fraud, I wouldn’t think it was a bank card as every card I’ve ever had from multiple banks is always sent via snail mail.

I’d do the credit checks as suggested