someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

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Topic Author
rotLobster
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:27 pm

someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by rotLobster »

got a fedex iphone, most expensive model, sent to my house. didnt order. i assume this is some sort of scam, perhaps an attempt to intercept the shipment. there was a suspicious vehicle that cruised and stopped in front of my house just before and just after delivery. i had already picked it up and carried it inside.

reported it as fraud to att. waiting on instructions to return phone. i dont have an att wireless account. all of my credit is locked. i reviewed my credit on all 3 agencies and no inquiries were made. scammer had my social security, address. my credit is frozen at all 3 agencies. checked all my credit cards and bank accounts. no activity. so how was someone able to get an order for a phone from ATT with no credit check?

i assume if i had not intercepted the shipment. it would have been picked up and i would have gotten a charge for the phone and usage within a month or two and had no idea where it came from.
Silverado
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Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:07 pm

Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by Silverado »

rotLobster wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:09 pm got a fedex iphone, most expensive model, sent to my house. didnt order. i assume this is some sort of scam, perhaps an attempt to intercept the shipment. there was a suspicious vehicle that cruised and stopped in front of my house just before and just after delivery. i had already picked it up and carried it inside.

reported it as fraud to att. waiting on instructions to return phone. i dont have an att wireless account. all of my credit is locked. i reviewed my credit on all 3 agencies and no inquiries were made. scammer had my social security, address. my credit is frozen at all 3 agencies. checked all my credit cards and bank accounts. no activity. so how was someone able to get an order for a phone from ATT with no credit check?

i assume if i had not intercepted the shipment. it would have been picked up and i would have gotten a charge for the phone and usage within a month or two and had no idea where it came from.
Was it addressed to you by name?
Topic Author
rotLobster
Posts: 35
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by rotLobster »

Silverado wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:10 pm
rotLobster wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:09 pm got a fedex iphone, most expensive model, sent to my house. didnt order. i assume this is some sort of scam, perhaps an attempt to intercept the shipment. there was a suspicious vehicle that cruised and stopped in front of my house just before and just after delivery. i had already picked it up and carried it inside.

reported it as fraud to att. waiting on instructions to return phone. i dont have an att wireless account. all of my credit is locked. i reviewed my credit on all 3 agencies and no inquiries were made. scammer had my social security, address. my credit is frozen at all 3 agencies. checked all my credit cards and bank accounts. no activity. so how was someone able to get an order for a phone from ATT with no credit check?

i assume if i had not intercepted the shipment. it would have been picked up and i would have gotten a charge for the phone and usage within a month or two and had no idea where it came from.
Was it addressed to you by name?
yes. my name. att had my social security account on file for the order. had an gmail account that didnt belong to me.
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AllMostThere
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by AllMostThere »

I think you hit the nail on the head. Someone was probably trolling for the delivery truck to intercept the phone, so most likely an ordered phone on someone's stole CC number. Good for you to do the right thing and get it back to the source. :thumbsup You shall have good Karma this year :beer
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Silverado
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by Silverado »

AllMostThere wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:16 pm I think you hit the nail on the head. Someone was probably trolling for the delivery truck to intercept the phone, so most likely an ordered phone on someone's stole CC number. Good for you to do the right thing and get it back to the source. :thumbsup You shall have good Karma this year :beer
I agree, but the name is interesting, as is the info from att. Not sure how that would work, stolen credit card but buying with a different name on the account. Somehow the OP's info was provided. I am sure there is a way, I am just too naïve to understand.
Topic Author
rotLobster
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by rotLobster »

AllMostThere wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:16 pm I think you hit the nail on the head. Someone was probably trolling for the delivery truck to intercept the phone, so most likely an ordered phone on someone's stole CC number. Good for you to do the right thing and get it back to the source. :thumbsup You shall have good Karma this year :beer
well since they had my address and social, im betting that after it was used for a while, after being sent to my address and apparently 'accepted' and activated, i would have gotten a bill via snailmail and then got into a dispute with ATT as to whether i really ordered the phone. use of a stolen CC would probably be the best case for me, otherwise i assume i would have been stuck with a bill and a dispute. phone's price was 1600 bucks. ...
shunkman
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by shunkman »

Another good reason to have a doorbell camera.
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ThereAreNoGurus
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by ThereAreNoGurus »

OP, thanks for sharing. That's a scam I hadn't heard of. Wow. Pretty tough to prevent. Risky for the scammer though, if neighbors are good and get suspicious of unknown vehicle lurking in the area (if it's not a busy neighborhood, of course).
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02nz
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by 02nz »

Too bad there couldn't be one of these waiting for the scammer.
drk
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by drk »

Note that identity verification via mobile phone carrier is a thing (e.g., ID.me supports this). I would file an identity theft report with your local PD. Now is a good time to change all of your important account passwords and make sure that you have 2FA enabled.
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Wrench
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by Wrench »

rotLobster wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:25 pm
AllMostThere wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:16 pm I think you hit the nail on the head. Someone was probably trolling for the delivery truck to intercept the phone, so most likely an ordered phone on someone's stole CC number. Good for you to do the right thing and get it back to the source. :thumbsup You shall have good Karma this year :beer
well since they had my address and social, im betting that after it was used for a while, after being sent to my address and apparently 'accepted' and activated, i would have gotten a bill via snailmail and then got into a dispute with ATT as to whether i really ordered the phone. use of a stolen CC would probably be the best case for me, otherwise i assume i would have been stuck with a bill and a dispute. phone's price was 1600 bucks. ...
I had a somewhat similar scam that almost happened to me a while back. I cut the cord on cable (verizon) doing it online. The next day, I got a call on my cell phone saying, you have a credit on your account, do you want to put it on your next bill, or have us send you a check? I knew I did in fact have a credit so it made sense. The number came up as Verizon on my phone. I told them to apply it to the bill, they said OK, we will send you a code, hit approve, and it will be done. Did that. About an hour later, I get a call from Verizon saying they detected fraud attempt on my phone ordering two $1600 iPhones. When I had approved the code they sent it was actually to change my password. Verizon caught it because the account is in my wife's name, and she has a VERY American sounding name (like Jane Smith - not her real name) and the person ordering was a male with a deep voice and foreign accent. Verizon was suspicious, so they called me and it was not approved. I think it was just dumb luck on the scammers part that they happened to call me when I did in fact have a credit, as I had a colleague who got a similar call around the same time. This particular scam was going around at the time, apparently. Anyway, I changed all my passwords, and my credit was already locked. I also set up 2 factor authentication in all my accounts that could have any value to anyone. Nothing more happened so I dodged a bullet! I did learn that no utility, ISP, cable company, etc. will ever call you about a bill. If they do, hang up, and call the number on your bill and speak to someone directly at the company. Lesson learned.

Wrench
Dilbydog
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by Dilbydog »

It’s been a long time (college) since I’ve opened a new cellular account. I’m surprised ATT wouldn’t perform at least a soft pull on your credit. One would think the freeze on your credit would of flagged something during the account origination process.
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quantAndHold
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by quantAndHold »

Dilbydog wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:02 pm It’s been a long time (college) since I’ve opened a new cellular account. I’m surprised ATT wouldn’t perform at least a soft pull on your credit. One would think the freeze on your credit would of flagged something during the account origination process.
Agreed. I tried to get a postpaid account at T-Mobile a couple of years ago, and couldn’t because my credit was frozen.
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BrandonBogle
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Re: someone sent me an iphone i didnt order...

Post by BrandonBogle »

quantAndHold wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:06 pm
Dilbydog wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:02 pm It’s been a long time (college) since I’ve opened a new cellular account. I’m surprised ATT wouldn’t perform at least a soft pull on your credit. One would think the freeze on your credit would of flagged something during the account origination process.
Agreed. I tried to get a postpaid account at T-Mobile a couple of years ago, and couldn’t because my credit was frozen.
When my mother opened a postpaid T-Mobile account, all her reports were frozen and T-Mobile said either unlock or pay a deposit. We opted for the latter as we did not wish to thaw them. After a few months (3 if I remember correctly), they applied the deposit as a credit to the account and the monthly bill used that up.
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