Parcel at door, requested £140. Aibu to think dodgy?

[DollyKoo]

Just opened the door to a man in a UPS uniform (couldn't see van). Mate behind not in uniform but poss id.

He was holding a parcel, said was cosmetics from Latvia had a different name but my address. Said it needed £140 to be delivered.

Do they really ask for money at the door? It seemed so weird, he pushed a bit but then smiled and said they'd send back when I insisted twice

We use ups all the time.

Two men, not necessarily dodgy. Often one is training the other.

On foot, not necessarily dodgy, sometimes ours will park round the corner and walk.

Cash on delivery, not unusual, we have paid duties this way.

Also, even if in the EU, there are import duties over certain thresholds.

They would know the contents due to customs declaration form.

Would call ups and ask if they had anyone delivering to your postcode today.

Also, even if in the EU, there are import duties over certain thresholds.
I'm fairly sure that's not true. There are no customs duties within the EU. She could be liable for VAT - but only if the value of the goods was above €35,000, which would be a crazy amount of makeup.

Also, even if in the EU, there are import duties over certain thresholds.
"I'm fairly sure that's not true."

This. There's no customs declaration form stating the contents, because there are no customs charges etc between EU countries! The same as you don't need to fill out a customs declaration form to send something from, say, Wales to Scotland.

Where I am, I'm accustomed to UPS asking for money at the door IF (and only if) you have ordered stuff from the US, and the additional VAT comes on top. The money they ask for is for the VAT amount, in my experience. It's most obnoxious. I've come to keep an eye at when they send the stuff, and as soon as you get your hands on the tracking number, you call in to UPS customer service and make arrangements for not having to pay the money to some unknown guy at the door. (Besides, they never give exchange back, so you always have to have the exact amount in bills and coins.)

I've paid delivery fees on the doorstep to UPS for something I'd ordered and was expecting, from the USA.

They came in a van, with a scanner, and needed a signature. The customs paperwork was provided separately. The cost was what you'd expect from a US import - a percentage of the value, plus an admin fee.

There isn't any duty payable on items from Latvia. There was no vehicle. The amount is ridiculously high. This is a scam, and I'd report it to the local police as well as Action Fraud. Someone else may well fall for it.

Also, even if in the EU, there are import duties over certain thresholds

There will be in a couple of years - everything's about to cost a LOT more. Now though, no.

Yes usps do ask for money at door. I ordered an american football top and expected a custom charge. I expected to pay for it online but the delivery guy came and asked for money. I dont keep a lot of cash on me so i flapped a bit and asked if i can give card. He said it was a hassle as had to call into the office and i then remembered i had birthday money and used that. He did give an invoice and receipt but i should have stuck to my guns about using card payment

I'm in the US and UPS do still do cash on delivery, collecting payment for an item (not just duty and import fees) and forwarding that payment to the sender. I doubt it's used that much in this Internet age, but it used to be somewhat common: www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/cod.html

Still sounds a bit dubious but at the same time - who on earth would hand over 140 quid for a package they hadn't ordered and addressed to someone else? Surely that's a relatively high risk, low return scam to try out in a face-to-face scenario?

Sorry, not import duty. VAT would be the only potential charge.

Maybe I was thinking post brexit!

No UPs do ask for import charges up front - I run an company reliant on imports so when ups deliver i always get this -annoys the hell out of me - no civilised invoice to pay in 7 days - always upfront before the goods can be left, and always someone who can't speak English / actually take payment at the end!

Gluteus I was both and at your post-Brexit comment!

I collect English-made pottery and will have to stop in the event of a hard Brexit as import taxes will push the prices far out of my reach. (I live across the Channel.)

Please phone 101 - if its a scam they may well try it on an elderly neighbour next. I would expect a card and details of how to pay the charges.

But £140 is a lot Latvia is part of the EU so from a government document:
^Are there customs controls on goods from the EU?
The Border Force carry out selective checks to ensure that no prohibited goods such as drugs, indecent or obscene material, weapons etc, are received in the UK from other EU countries. The Border Force also carry out routine controls for revenue purposes. However, because goods from the ‘Special Territories’, that is, countries who are not included in the fiscal territory of the EU (see paragraph 4.3), are subject to excise duty and import VAT, they are processed in the same way as goods imported from outside the EU.^
So that would have to be £140 of VAT if it is just make up (alcohol or tobacco would also need to pay excise duty).

DODGY - don't pay a penny - if it was legit you would've known in advance and these days you pay online, by cheque/card etc - not cash-on-demand + the amount is even more suspicious - £140 postage would deliver a lorry load of stuff not a single parcel - and they'd have a van - sounds like a scam to me.

i'd defo ring UPS as they never ask for money at the door, if you have ordered something from them then it would have to right name on it surely!
sounds very dodgy and i would investigate because there are alot of people trying to scam people out of big amounts of money! best thing to do is contact UPS and see what they have to say about it. if it was a scam then these people need to be stopped ASAP because someone who doesn't question it could be getting mugged of for £140! its simply not right.

UPS have sai they cannot confirm or deny without a tracking number.

Frankly I'm sure they could from my postcode but they are disinterested

I feel it'd be wasting police time as it may be true

Why may it be true if you haven't actually ordered anything from Latvia worth £140 though?

Could someone you know from Latvia have sent you something? Relatives? I've sent gifts to relatives abroad and they were stopped by the receiving country post office and they had to pay import taxes to collect. :(
But 140 pounds is a lot of taxes.

My brother drives for UPS and deliveries are all paid for up front so this sounds like a scam.

DH who is a police officer says just to ring anyway. The police will decide whether it's a waste of time or not and how much policing will go into it. They may have other reports from your area and you could be able to give a better description than other complainers.
How would you feel if someone actually did pay the £140 and it was a scam.

My dh used to be a ups courier and they do have to ask for cash on delivery if the parcel has to have an import tax paid on it. He used to regularly have people try to call the police on him, abuse him and try to take the parcels off him. Unfortunately the supplier should let you know in advance that there will be a tax but often don't bother. Could be completely genuine

There was a scam a while ago where delivery folk would say that they had a gift basket for you, but because it contained a bottle of wine they would need to verify that you were 18+ by getting you to make a nominal payment on your credit/debit card. Obviously they would actually clone your card and rip you off for every penny they could get. This sounds potentially similar.

SCAM.

Dolly letting the police know isn't wasting their time. They may not be able to do anything about your particular incident, but if it's a scam and one or more people have fallen for it, your information will help them to build up a picture of what's happening and make apprehension and conviction more likely. If no one has fallen for it yet it will help them in determining if and how to act on it before someone does. It's just a call to give them information, you're not asking them to blue light over.

As I said above, our local police give out warnings about things like this on the basis of people getting in touch. They put it in the local paper and on FB to hopefully prevent people falling for it. How is that a waste of anyones time? I am sure they would rather spend half an hour chatting to the OP to then warn others than several hours investigatinga theft from someone who fell for it.