Unsolicited delivery of phone and computer

[Purpleheadgirl]

Relative has had delivered a mobile phone and a chromebook today. Address is correct and addressed to their full name...think Leonard not Len....when everything else they have, is listed in their shortened name. Definitely not been ordered by anyone in the house. Nothing showing on any cards or bank accounts. Also checked on Experian and nothing showing yet... AIBU to wonder what else we can do now...

Could it be sent by an employer?

It’s likely to be a known scam. See BBC report here:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49450485

It means that the addressee’s details have been stolen, so best to take advice from their bank’s fraud line. They will be open 24hrs.

Do they work? Has it come from their employer?

I’ve read about this. It’s a scam. I’ll see if I can find a link.

Ask the delivery company/supplier?

Aha I see MsAgnes has beaten me to it!

Be wary of anyone coming to the house to collect it. Make sure that is something you've arranged rather than them getting in touch with you.

It could be a courier scam. My sister had this. They steal your identity and order the phone. Mobile phone gets delivered, then a courier from the delivery company comes to collect it as it was a mistake. Except the courier is the scammer, not a real courier, and now they have your phone.

Tell your relative not to hand it over to anyone.

No they are self-employed so not from an employer. I have seen that scam above, and can only wonder if there was a problem in that relative actually took item inside. No-came back from delivery company or anyone else for that matter. No-one was on the drive to intercept the delivery. We don't intend on "giving this back" to anyone that randomly knocks on the door for it.....and so far nothing shows as a fraudulent transaction......yet I still sure something is wrong especially as was marked in a name that they rarely use :(

Happened to me. Phone, separate phone contract, and 2 computers. Identity theft. Nothing on my cards or bank details because they didn’t have any such info (I am very careful). All they had was my name and address and that’s all they needed in order to take out credit in my name (I had perfect credit score). So nothing would appear on cards or bank, and not immediately on Experian, but it will later, and credit company will chase, if not sorted out

In the case of the phone contract, it was my name and someone else’s bank details.

When I called the computer shop to report and return it they said, “Yes, but what about the other laptop?” So apparently they managed to get one before it even got to me. I don’t know how, but there were people repairing the road outside my house that week...

Took ages to sort out and I had to lock down credit for years.

Sorry, but your relative probably has a mess to deal with. Don’t ignore it!

I work in the fraud investigation team for a telecomms company. Just contact the company that the phone is with eg Vodafone, Ee, etc and they'll take it from there.

Maybe tell relative to cancel their debit and credit cards as a precaution.

New iPhone arrived today! Phoned the phone company, and there is a new account set up in their name, but different bank account. We still have the equipment though....

Might be worth contacting the police on their non emergency number. Should anything untoward happen in your relatives name as a result of this scam then you'll have a crime reference number to back them up with.

Get the dispatching companies fraud department to deal with it.
DH had a random item arrive (clothing not electricals) from a company he had never used. It was passed straight through to the fraud department. They said his name would have been randomly selected from a mailing list for the fraud. The credit account did appear on his credit rating but he was able to get a note added stating it was not him. In our case the 1st item was a cheap item so no attempt to collect by the fraudster but by the time we rang the company concerned the fraudsters had changed the delivery address on the account and put in a second more lucrative order. If we hadn't acted so quickly (less than 1 hour after delivery) they'd have got away with it and we'd have been none the wiser until about a month later when the bill for the credit account arrived.

I had 2 new Iphones delivered. I refused to accept them. The following day the courier(who seemed legit) came back to try to deliverthem again, and was quite insistent about it.. I refused again. A few days later, I received a letter saying my insurance for them was cancelled as I had not paid thepremium.

Sorry, hit CR too soon. I was advised to contact the police about potential fraud. They weren't really bothered, to be honest.
I was very unnerved that someone was using my address for this, and worried that someone was going to turn up to collect them.

Been reported to phone company who apparently just said they'd call back with 48 hrs and thought it was just someone else in the household ordering them but pushed and reported it as fraud. Re accepting the deliveries.... they get quite a few at the moment anyway so wouldn't tell which is legit or not until opened.