Unexpected parcel - scam!

batman2000 · 6 July 2017 at 9:43AM

I hope it's ok to put this here.... it's a warning based on our current experience...

Yesterday we had a small parcel delivered, that was addressed to my husband. I signed for it because he often buys odds and ends online. It turned out to be a Samsung phone worth nearly £800, ordered (apparently) from the catalogue company 'Look Again', and definitely not ordered by us!

So husband rang 'Look Again' last night, and also rang the police on 101 who seemed decidedly unconcerned, saying that he wasn't a 'victim'

. He got a case number though. The 'Look Again' fraud office will use the case number to register the event with 'Action Fraud'.

It turns out these scams happen quite often (we'd never heard of them till now). My husband's details (name/address/d.o.b) were probably obtained from Companies House website, and an account with the catalogue company set up. No payment details needed, since the catalogue company performs a credit check based on the above details. They will then send out up to £1000 worth of goods, and a statement/invoice follows a month later! So the scammers ordered a mobile phone which was delivered to us.

The next step of the scam hasn't happened to us yet - the scammers pose as the delivery company, claiming to have made a mistake and wanting to take the parcel back. Bit worried about this bit! Might have to go out all day!

'Look Again' have taken my husbands details off the account, and are sending a returns label & packaging for the parcel. Personally, I can't wait to get rid of it.

So we're happy it'll all be cleared up, but I'm so angry this can even happen in the first place. According to the fraud office there's one case like this for every 100 accounts set up. Grr. Surely that's too many and something needs to be done? It's been going on for years, apparently!

So I thought I'd share as a warning to others. And if anyone thinks there's anything else we should be doing, please let me know

.

zaax · 6 July 2017 at 10:12AM

Please report it to http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

soolin · 6 July 2017 at 11:21AM

zaax wrote: »

Please report it to http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

That's mentioned in the first post already?

GreenQueen · 6 July 2017 at 11:38AM

Suggest if anyone does turn up, you say that you've already spoken to their returns department and have sent it back - act innocent and suggest that there must be two different departments in their company that aren't communicating with each other. And try to get a name of the "collection" person and their vehicle registration.

Much safer for you to get as many details as possible to pass on to the police rather than trying to deal with someone in person, as you don't know how involved in the scam the collection driver is or whether they may get violent if challenged too hard.

GQ

batman2000 · 6 July 2017 at 12:05PM

Thanks for the replies :-)

'Look Again' said they'd contact Action Fraud, but it might be worth doing it ourselves anyway. I'm trusting nobody at the moment!

GreenQueen, I was planning to say that we're dealing directly with 'Look Again' but your suggestion is better because they'll think we don't have the parcel anymore. Oh, and I'm hoping to covertly check out their vehicle reg etc. Wish me luck.

I'm a bit surprised the policeman my husband spoke to wasn't wise to this kind of scam? Maybe they just have bigger things to think about....

nyermen · 7 July 2017 at 9:18AM

Keep your safety first please!

I have to say I'd not heard of this specific scam, not that I'm the police, but I do engage with the mobile community heavily.

batman2000 · 7 July 2017 at 12:26PM

nyermen wrote: »

Keep your safety first please!

I will, thanks!

nyermen wrote: »

I have to say I'd not heard of this specific scam, not that I'm the police, but I do engage with the mobile community heavily.

We couldn't work out what was happening at first because there's not much online about it, and the policeman wasn't familiar with it either. But the fraud office at the catalogue company knew about it straight away, although they did say it usually happens in the London area (we're in the NW).

Here's the link we eventually found (scroll to 'unexpected parcel delivery):
http://www.lichfieldmercury.co.uk/28-common-scams-reported-police/story-21962993-detail/story.html

Just to update - we haven't had any follow-up from the scammers on this (yet). Phew! It's definitely ID fraud though, since the e-mail address and mobile number associated with the account don't belong to us.

boo_star · 8 July 2017 at 12:32AM

batman2000 wrote: »

I will, thanks!

We couldn't work out what was happening at first because there's not much online about it, and the policeman wasn't familiar with it either. But the fraud office at the catalogue company knew about it straight away, although they did say it usually happens in the London area (we're in the NW).

Here's the link we eventually found (scroll to 'unexpected parcel delivery):
http://www.lichfieldmercury.co.uk/28-common-scams-reported-police/story-21962993-detail/story.html

Just to update - we haven't had any follow-up from the scammers on this (yet). Phew! It's definitely ID fraud though, since the e-mail address and mobile number associated with the account don't belong to us.

It's not ID fraud, its almost certainly Credit Card fraud.

Geoff1963 · 8 July 2017 at 1:01AM

the scammers pose as the delivery company

More likely, an innocent third party is engaged ; so even if you catch them, it won't help much.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39073389

Maybe some sort of tracker / video camera would work, to see where the item ends up.

boo_star · 8 July 2017 at 1:03AM

Geoff1963 wrote: »

More likely, an innocent third party is engaged ; so even if you catch them, it won't help much.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39073389

Maybe some sort of tracker / video camera would work, to see where the item ends up.

Delivery companies already do that.

You know, when you can track your parcel online.

Fosterdog · 8 July 2017 at 7:09AM

nyermen wrote: »

Keep your safety first please!

I have to say I'd not heard of this specific scam, not that I'm the police, but I do engage with the mobile community heavily.

It is a relatively common scam, been doing the rounds for a good few years now, it used to be a lot more common with mobiles than it is now as so many retailers now take note of the IMEI numbers and can get them blocked by the manufacturer/network provider if reported stolen it's now harder to get away with it.

The next level to the scam would probably be that they sell that phone on to another unsuspecting victim with a story of the wrong one being bought and the retailer refusing a return because its open. That person then pays a bit under RRP to get a brand new phone that gets blocked within a few days/weeks and seller seems to have disappeared and run away with the money.

Unexpected parcel - scam!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free