Is this weird? Should I worry?

[lovinmyboys]

Today we got a package delivered to our address, but to a name we don’t know. We had other packages (from the amazon games sale, lol) so my ds opened it without realizing it wasn’t ours. It was a cell phone. About 20 minutes later, 2 people knocked on the door to “pick up their cell phone that was delivered here.” Is that super weird? Is there any kind of scam like this? I thought maybe they ordered a phone they didn’t want people to know they have, but dh pointed out that they could go to Walmart and get a phone people wouldn’t know they had.

So, anyone have a theory as to why they had their phone delivered to our address? 

[PeterPan]

Did you get the name on the package or a license plate or anything? I think people do that when they're using stolen credit cards.

[moonflower]

super weird

 

https://www.komando.com/happening-now/423532/watch-out-clever-amazon-delivery-scam-spreading-all-over-the-country

[El...]

I think you should contact the police! Use the non emergency line if they're already gone.

[Mergath]

1 hour ago, moonflower said:

super weird

 

https://www.komando.com/happening-now/423532/watch-out-clever-amazon-delivery-scam-spreading-all-over-the-country

 

This seems to be a different scam- in the link, when you, a legit customer, order something, the third-party seller you order from (not knowing they're going to scam you) ships an empty box to the wrong address, where someone (who is in on the scam) signs for the package. Because a box was delivered and signed for, Amazon takes the side of the seller and refuses to compensate you for your claim that you never got your item.

I think the OP got a phone that someone bought with a stolen credit card. And that she should definitely call the police so she isn't somehow implicated. 

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, Seasider too said:

Pretty brazen of them to knock on your door and ask for a package. Because in a non-scam, how would they have known (within 20 minutes) that their package had been misdelivered to your address? I think it’s kinda scary. 

 

While I think this is likely a scam, they could easily have seen the UPS/Fedex guy, flagged them down, said "Hey, you missed my house!" and when the driver went "D'oh, I delivered to next door instead!" gone "Oh, okay, I'll pick it up there."

Or... I rarely remember tracking exists, but when you check it, does it tell you what address a package is delivered at? If so, they could have checked the tracking for their item (just like they presumably would have done if it was a scam), seen that it was delivered to the wrong house, gone "John, you dimwit, you typed the wrong address, go pick up my phone!" and sent their hapless screwup to fetch it.

[HomeAgain]

How long have you lived there?

Dh bought new underwear and a few things online last year.  About a week later he checked on the package status and realized that it had been so long since he had used the website that he sent it to our house 3 addresses ago! 😄  He was pretty disappointed, but I'm guessing so were the owners of that house when they opened a box full of men's underwear.

[Pawz4me]

5 hours ago, Seasider too said:

Pretty brazen of them to knock on your door and ask for a package. Because in a non-scam, how would they have known (within 20 minutes) that their package had been misdelivered to your address? I think it’s kinda scary. 

If they had in fact ordered the item they would probably have been able to follow the tracking via the carrier. I often get almost instant updates for packages.

And I did have a snafu one time with Home Depot. It involved my items, items that were supposed to go to one person in Pennsylvania and items that were supposed to go to someone in Georgia. They apparently put the wrong labels on the wrong items. I was able to figure it all out through my package tracking data and through my account on Home Depot. Had the person who received my stuff been local rather than in Georgia I could have gone to pick my package up.

But all that doesn't mean this instance wasn't a scam. You just never know nowadays.

[Junie]

Is it possible that they were homeless and "borrowing" your address for delivery purposes?

[gardenmom5]

I would call the police as something is fishy, even if they weren't using a stolen credit card. (I think they likely were.)

this stuff is happening more and more to the point I want a doorbell cam - which would have gotten video of them. (and maybe video of the car.)

 

[elegantlion]

I agree that the police should be called, it could be a known scam, it could be related to illegal activities (drugs, etc.) or it could be they thought no one would be home and they'd pick the package up without incident. All would bother me enough to call the police. The police would have record of other reported incidents. 

[Mom0012]

I wonder if amazon left a picture of where it was delivered in the tracking and if they live close enough to you to recognize it as your house?  They may have been waiting for the phone and saw when it said “delivered”.

I ordered something for my sister and had it shipped directly to her,  She said she didn’t receive it, so I checked my tracking and I saw a picture of the package on a chair on her front porch.  

[J-rap]

Super strange!  I'd be very suspicious and would probably be on the phone with both the police and Amazon. 

[Chris in VA]

Very fishy. Call the police, and tell Amazon customer service. 

[Valley Girl]

29 minutes ago, Mom0012 said:

I wonder if amazon left a picture of where it was delivered in the tracking and if they live close enough to you to recognize it as your house?  They may have been waiting for the phone and saw when it said “delivered”.

I ordered something for my sister and had it shipped directly to her,  She said she didn’t receive it, so I checked my tracking and I saw a picture of the package on a chair on her front porch.  

It sounds as though the actual address on the package was the OP's rather than a case of a package with a different address just being misdelivered. I'd be very suspicious, too. I'd be googling the name on it in addition to contacting the police non-emergency number.

[mommyoffive]

That is really odd.  Call the police. 

[Arcadia]

I live in a condominium so the Apt Number is sometimes written/typed wrongly. However I do know our neighbors and they won’t mind us seeing their tracking report on their cellphone, showing us their DMV ID and logging a report with Amazon customer service live chat (and giving us a copy of the chat log) before we hand the parcel over. 

If it is a neighbor I don’t know, I’ll log a Amazon customer service case as well as get a case number with the non-emergency city police hotline.

[HomeAgain]

One other thought - could they live on your street?

Our last house had sequential numbers (think like 123 Sesame Street.  That easy).  My kid reversed the last two digits on at least a few occasions and wrote it completely backwards one.  Still sequential, but totally wrong.  Our neighbors from about a block down would occasionally bring by mail and I'd groan, every time, because in most cases it was where my kid had sent a self addressed stamped envelope to the company or whatnot, so he was writing this down repeatedly, wrong.

Yeah, we have issues here. 😄  It's why I'm so glad Amazon auto-stores every address for me because there's no way I'd remember it all, but at least I know enough to double check!

[Farrar]

I almost did this here once when the company somehow put down the address as NE instead of where I live, which is NW. In the end, I decided to just complain. But it was a shirt, not a new phone. We also once got a delivery for our house number, but the wrong numbered street. And another time, we got assessed a $5k bill from the city for construction without a license that it turned out belonged to someone a block over - so one number off from our street. We tracked them down for the city and got it cleared up.

I guess I'm just thinking... misspellings happen. Some cities have a dozen streets with very similar names, for example.

[lovinmyboys]

At first I did think it was just a mistake, but as I thought about it more it just seemed fishy. My parents live on a “terrace” and there is a “street” of the same name a block over, so that often gets mixed up. But our house isn’t like that. Our address isn’t easily mixed up. Also, while we have a few subdivisions near us, there are very few houses on our street and I know the people who came to the door don’t live on our street.

We are moving so there is a sign that our house is for rent. Dh thought maybe they thought the house was empty so they could have things delivered here and pick them up without being noticed. 

 

[TLC]

It could be a scam with someone using a stolen credit card or phone to purchase items and have them delivered to your house.

However, it could also just be a neighbor.  In one "planned" neighborhood we lived in.  They used the same name with a different ending for all the streets in a pod.  They had xxx street, xxx lane, xxx court, and xxx drive.  We lived on the court and frequently had packages delivered to other homes in the pod with the same house number.  What a mess!

[lovinmyboys]

I decided to call the police. I talked with the person who answered the phone and she said an officer would call on Monday to take a report. About 10 minutes later, 2 police officers showed up. They said it was the second report they had about it this week. They think someone is using Zillow and delivering things to houses for sale or rent and assuming they are empty. I wasn’t too much help because at the time I didn’t really think about how weird it was, so I didn’t really pay attention to what they looked like or any other details.. The police do think it is probably related to identity theft. 

Edited April 26, 2019 by lovinmyboys

[HomeAgain]

13 minutes ago, lovinmyboys said:

I decided to call the police. I talked with the person who answered the phone and she said an officer would call on Monday to take a report. About 10 minutes later, 2 police officers showed up. They said it was the second report they had about it this week. They think someone is using Zillow and delivering things to houses for sale or rent and assuming they are empty. I wasn’t too much help because at the time I didn’t really think about how weird it was, so I didn’t really pay attention to what they looked like or any other details.. The police do think it is probably related to identity theft. 

Man, I was so hoping to give them the benefit of the doubt!

[ktgrok]

My house number is somewhat similar to the current year, just one number off. A few times DH or I have accidentally written the year instead of the correct house number, on things shipped to us. Thankfully, that particular address doesn't exist, so Amazon called me to check what the problem was. Had it turned out to be an actual address somewhere it would have been delivered, and then I would have had to track it down. 

[Farrar]

I have read about scams where people use addresses that are usually empty during delivery hours to ship illegal or sketchy goods so they can't be traced back to them. They may test them by having more normal things sent first and see how it plays out. Though, really, you could just as easily test with a $20 basic item instead of a cell phone. I really think it's more likely to have been a mix up. In the case where I almost went to reclaim my missing shirt, I could see what address they had down. I don't know how they got it wrong, but it didn't take any detective work.