Derbyshire Police have reported receiving several reports of courier frauds involving unaccounted for mobile phones, bank cards or other high value items being delivered to addresses in the county.
In some cases, victims have received parcels containing iPhones, which include a contract taken out in their name and address without their knowledge or consent. After the phone is delivered a second uniformed courier arrives stating that the parcel has been delivered in error and needs to be returned.
A statement from Derbyshire Police said: "We know that an initial deposit is paid for the phone by fraudsters, and future payments are then attributed to the victim whose identity has been stolen. In other cases, victims have received a bank card which they havent ordered, or been notified of, from a bank they dont have an account with. We believe there are likely to be other victims across the county and would encourage people to be vigilant."
Anyone receiving an unexpected package is being advised to NOT hand it over if a courier requests you to and to instead, check credentials and call the company that they represent, to check if they are legitimate and to call Police if they prove not to be as stated, and to then contact the retailer as soon as possible to arrange for the package to be sent back.
Police have also recommended that anyone targeted by the scam should contact their bank due to risks of accounts being compromised and being a victim of identity theft.
How to protect yourself against identity theft
If you want to protect yourself against identity fraud, Action Fraud recommends that you:
Contact Police
If you need to seek further advice you can contact Police via one of the following methods:
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