New Shipping Scam

That shiny new laptop you didn’t order isn’t going back to the store, even though FedEx processes the return.

Who Is It Targeting: Credit card holders

What Is It: Stolen goods fraud and spoofing scam

What Are They After: In one specific incident, a man received an alert from his bank, informing him of a card, not present transaction. He found that it was for a laptop purchased at Best Buy. He called his bank immediately, explained that it was fraudulent, and his bank canceled his credit card then issued a new one. He thought that was the end of the process.

A few days later, the laptop arrived anyway. The victim called Best Buy, who first tried to treat this as a simple return. The man explained that this was fraudulent and that he wanted a full receipt for it, which he got by physically taking the laptop to his local store. However, shortly after that, FedEx arrived at his house with an order to pick up the laptop and process it as a return. The FedEx driver and the victim discovered that the address on the shipping label was not for Best Buy, but was actually for a private residence.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Sign up for free “card not present alerts” from your credit card company.

• If you are ever fraudulently charged for a purchase, contact your financial institution immediately.

• Never just take someone’s word for it in matters like this: if the victim had returned the laptop via FedEx, he could have been charged for the item.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. Find more information about current scams and alerts here. For full details of this scam check out this article from Cleveland.com.