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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU - calling all am amateur sleuths

91 replies

Busydays13 · 14/09/2016 10:53

Ladies - not a traditional AIBU post - but having read previous posts here and the very clever responses - I thought I would give it a go...... as I am baffled.....

Basically my husband has had someone order an iPhone 6S (rose gold colour) on his mobile phone account. They did this by calling the phone company and asking to set up a new account - (the mobile number the call came from is not his and is now dead) - the phone company said you already have an account with us which he does - but let's do a credit check on you to see if we can supply you with a new phone. From what they have listened to so far (calls are monitored for training and recording purposes etc) - they gave his date of birth - knew where he banked - post code of where he lived etc - and while they failed one or two questions - they basically passed this person to get the phone - they had tried to get 2 phones - but because they failed some of the credit questions - they only got one!!! (don't even start me on the fact that it was a credit reference company which ADVERTISES that if you pay them they will help protect you from fraud!!!! Meanshile they give some scamster a phone by failing to follow basic control procedures). My husband is not from the UK and has quite a distinctive foreign accent - this caller was English apparently - so definitely not my husband. This call to order the phone was made on the 23rd of August when we were not in the country and can prove that by flight records. We arrived back on the evening of the 23rd late. The email address used for confirmation of the order was not the email address which the phone company holds for my husband and is quite obviously a fake - so I am very annoyed with them for not at least checking by phone, text or email to my husbands current records. Therefore my husband knew nothing about this until his phone got blocked on Monday and he rang his provider. Delivery was scheduled for the 24th August and occurred around 1pm according to the deilvery company. My husband was in at that time as was our au pair and children and no such delivery was made. I rang the delivery company - and they sent a scanned copy of the signature they received for delivery (it was not even remotely like my husbands) - their records show that the delivery van co-ordinates placed the van on our street at the time of delivery. Even more worryingly apparently the delivery was signed for using my husbands passport (though the passport details which the delivery driver took - do not match my husbands passport - so am assuming IF one was actually provided it was a fake). The Delivery company states that identification must be provided and it would only be delivered to our house - i.e. someone had to be in the house to accept delivery. So Ladies, does anyone know how this could have occurred. I thought at first that perhaps they intercepted the driver - as they send texts giving an hour window for delivery - but the van co-ordinates dispute this. Then I thought maybe someone hung around outside and just pretended to have exited the house - and signed for it - but the delivery company stated that it had to be taken in by someone actually in the house. So I am baffled. This is a genuine fraud....... we have to contact the police with respect to my husbands passport and report it - as god knows what else they could have done or accounts they may have set up. If the driver didn't follow orders with respect to ensuring the person who took delivery was actually in our house - then I don't expect them to admit it - but how else could this delivery have been made? They had said they will get a descripton Any Sherlock Holmes out there?

OP posts:
MakeMyWineADouble · 14/09/2016 12:23

Another reason for leaving it so late may have been waiting for one last bill or bit of information to come through?

dowhatnow · 14/09/2016 12:24

Have you reported it yet to the police op?

So legally, even though the passport number doesn't tally and the signature is wrong and despite all the other discrepancies, DH is still liable to pay then because the delivery firm say that they did all the security checks, which passed?

BriocheBriocheBrioche · 14/09/2016 12:31

Have they traced the number that was used to make the initial order?

blankmind · 14/09/2016 12:34

Brioche
see 5th line of the OP.

BeMorePanda · 14/09/2016 12:35

Maybe they didn't think of it in time to complete it before the OP got home?

SpaceUnicorn · 14/09/2016 12:37

The amateur sleuths of MN cannot really do much apart from offer conjectural suggestions.

What have the actual real sleuths of your local police force said? You haven't alluded to contacting the police about this alleged fraud, which seems rather strange.

SpaceUnicorn · 14/09/2016 12:38

You couldn't make it up....

Grin
OnionKnight · 14/09/2016 12:41
Hmm

So someone made a fake passport etc just to get a phone that would be bricked by the time the network operator realised what had happened?

Hmm
Nobrain · 14/09/2016 12:48

What did the police say?

allsfairinlove · 14/09/2016 12:49

On a side note , would you be able to unlock the phone after it's been bricked?

DarklyDreamingDexter · 14/09/2016 12:51

What badtime said: 'TBF, if you went to deliver something and met someone just outside the door of the house you were delivering to with a passport in the name of the person you were delivering to, you wouldn't really think anything of it, would you.

This exact thing happened to my brother recently. Someone waited outside his house with a fake passport in his name and the postman handed over a new bank card and PIN number which scammers had ordered in his name, using details found on his bank statement. Within the hour they'd drawn out £10k in bits from different banks using fake ID plus card and pin no. My brother did detective work of his own and has his own CCTV system, so got an image of a guy lurking outside his gate on the day of the fraud. Showed it to the postman who admitted he had handed it over to the guy, cos he had a passport. iD. My brother got the £10k refunded, but Barclays and the police couldn't care less, even though he had evidence and the guy's number plate!

Busydays13 · 14/09/2016 12:58

ok - to add more details...... Au Pair doesn't have a BF - she has now returned to Uni and this was her last week with us. BUT husband was in the house at the time and Au Pair wouldn't have known whether he would be around or not at that time. We usually lock our office room when we go away for long periods of time - but we don't say when we go out for the night - have been messaging her and she seems concerned - but we did have one instance where she brought friends back when we were abroad (but our office would have been locked then - however there would have been post lying around and we only found out because our neighbours told us - she initially denied it when we confronted her - but then fessed up - however she is not deceitful by nature..... and is a pharmacist so would have a lot to lose if she was involved and it ever got traced back to her - but maybe I am too naive ). DH will go to police today with the 5 characters from fake passport - so that it gets cancelled or tracked or something...... we have now checked his bill also - and there are 2 UK numbers on his account which have been suspended - as they managed to set up 2 numbers but have yet to find out if it was 1 or 2 phones delivered - last night they said 1 phone - but why 2 numbers?

OP posts:
allsfairinlove · 14/09/2016 13:01

Hang on....she stole your post?! Shock

Unicorntrainer · 14/09/2016 13:04

X post earlier re cctv, but just had a thought. Got a new iPhone earlier this year, and provider offered me a second phone so got one for dd. Her phone and number show up on my online account and I can see numbers called. Don't know if you have emergency contact number or au pairs parents' numbers?

But phone did have to be delivered to me, couldn't be delivered to dd's address, and I DID have to show photo id.

SpaceUnicorn · 14/09/2016 13:06

Hang on....she stole your post?!

No, she had friends back to the house while the OP was away - office was locked but post may have been accessible.

Unicorntrainer · 14/09/2016 13:07

X post again OP, if your DH is expected to pay bill phones will show on his account. Number may show as suspended if phone thief is changing number. Best to ask network provider.

PinkSquash · 14/09/2016 13:10

The phone company will be able to block the phone using the IMEI number, have they done that?

BillSykesDog · 14/09/2016 13:17

I doubt it was the Au Pair. I think it's pretty clearly the delivery driver. He probably scopes out bins for things like bank statements while on his rounds and uses things like Facebook and online public records searches to fill in other blanks. Then orders things he can just take.

BillSykesDog · 14/09/2016 13:20

I doubt the cost of a false passport would be worth the bother just for one phone. Therefore it's probably the delivery driver and the passport was never seen.

Also, if it was the Au Pair, surely she would just have rooted for the original passport and used that, rather than a fake one?

CrazyDuchess · 14/09/2016 13:21

I am confused as to all the twin brother references and Maui??

Dadstheworld · 14/09/2016 13:28

Maybe the delivery of the phone was timed to arrive whilst OP was away, But the order delayed/took longer than expected?

PotOfYoghurt · 14/09/2016 13:33

It's not the Maui one is it?

Counterpane · 14/09/2016 13:41

I think Dadstheworld is right, there was probably a delay.

I just looked on eBay at the completed auction listings - there are hundreds of them! Confused

If you've got a few hours -days- to spare you could look through the ones that ended the last week in August and see if anything jumps out at you. The scammer would know that the phone was likely to be blocked once you found out about this so they might look to sell it on before that happened.

VladmirsPoutine · 14/09/2016 13:44

OP, one of my first jobs was as an assistant at a Literary agent. I'd say this probably wouldn't make it.
Have you considered adding a young half wizard into the mix? Perhaps one that attends a Grammar school as opposed to a boarding school? Just to give it a bit of an edge in the current climate.

stayathomegardener · 14/09/2016 13:45

So your completely trustworthy Au pair lied to you when asked if she had friends over whilst you are away and only confessed when confronted with evidence.
Then this occurs just as she leaves for Uni.
Would be interesting if the initial phone call ordering the phone was the day after the friends visited...

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