Umm ... what is going on? (possible identity theft)

[JIN MOUSA]

A few days ago, we were notified of possible fraudulent activity on our credit card: an order from walmart.com. We confirmed that we had not purchased anything and had the card canceled, thought that was the end.

Today, I received 4 boxes from walmart.com. On the shipping labels was MY first name, DIFFERENT last name, MY address, and MY phone number. I signed into my walmart.com account, and there are no orders in the past 6 months, plus they had an old address and credit card on file. So obviously MY walmart.com account wasn't used. 

DH called Wal-Mart, and they marked it as fraud, and couldn't offer any other information. 

I locked my credit reports, placed an initial 90-day fraud alert, and checked 2 of my credit reports (Equifax still needs the fraud alert to work its way through their system; I ordered my annual free one from them in January). Everything looks normal. 

So what gives???

In the meantime, I have 4 large jars of creamy peanut butter, 4 containers of Noxzema, 4 Clean and Clear facial cleansers, and 1 package of Gain laundry detergent. Anyone wanna come over for peanut butter sandwiches, laundry, and facials?

[Miss Tick]

The situation sounds odd, but the purchases are flat-out weird! Perhaps one of your children has quietly turned to a life of crime and is testing their new skills in a safe, child-friendly environment?

[Liz CA]

Something very similar happened to me a few Christmases ago. Right before the holiday, I found a package from LL Bean on my steps. I called and said I had not ordered it but found out my credit card was used to pay for it. They figured what may have happened is that the person who ordered it with my card number forgot to change the shipping address...

Of course, the card was replaced and LL Bean established a completely new account for me and deleted the one this person had been ordering from. 

If I remember correctly, the last name was ours and the first name something different. 

[JIN MOUSA]

27 minutes ago, SusanC said:

The situation sounds odd, but the purchases are flat-out weird! Perhaps one of your children has quietly turned to a life of crime and is testing their new skills in a safe, child-friendly environment?

Lol. I'm sorry to say their life-of-crime prospects are not looking promising ...

 

22 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

Something very similar happened to me a few Christmases ago. Right before the holiday, I found a package from LL Bean on my steps. I called and said I had not ordered it but found out my credit card was used to pay for it. They figured what may have happened is that the person who ordered it with my card number forgot to change the shipping address...

Of course, the card was replaced and LL Bean established a completely new account for me and deleted the one this person had been ordering from. 

If I remember correctly, the last name was ours and the first name something different. 

If you don't mind sharing, did you end up having any other identity theft/fraud-related issues? Did you have to do anything other than contact LL Bean?

[Liz CA]

2 hours ago, JIN MOUSA said:

If you don't mind sharing, did you end up having any other identity theft/fraud-related issues? Did you have to do anything other than contact LL Bean?

 

I cannot think of anything that comes to mind clearly connected to this incident but right around the holidays, our cards get compromised almost every single year and we go through the replacement routine.

I have alerts set up as well but nothing has happened lately - knock on wood.

[G5052]

This is a scam. It happened to one of my neighbors.

https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/

[JIN MOUSA]

42 minutes ago, G5052 said:

This is a scam. It happened to one of my neighbors.

https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/

That seems similar to what happened to us, except with Wal-mart, the order number is on the shipping label, so even without an invoice, Wal-mart was able to look up the orders and mark them as fraud.

Plus the items ordered, don't seem to be items in need of fake reviews (Wal-mart brand peanut butter x 4, Noxzema x 4, Clean and Clear acne cleanser x 4, Gain laundry pods x 1)?

We also plan to return the items to Wal-mart, since they have a brick and mortar presence. 

[RootAnn]

I had this happen with first - a fraud alert on my credit card that included a purchase from Bed Bath & Beyond. (At the time, I had a relative working there. If I would have wanted something from there, I would have had my relative look for it on sale or even in the scratch & dent section!) Had the card cancelled, but several days later, had an item actually show up from BBB! They were able to tell me that it wasn't a gift order, it was ordered with my (stolen) card, but I didn't have a BB&B account to order from (so no need to change my account there), and I sent it back. I don't remember what the name on the package was specifically. Someone really wanted one of those Kerig coffee makers! Nothing else ever came of it after that.