Scott Co. Sheriff’s Office tracks new package scam targeting high-priced technology

Scottsburg, IN. (WAVE) - Sheriff’s deputies in Scott County, Indiana, are warning people across the region about a new scam strategy that could put consumers out of thousands of dollars.

“Once they’ve got what they want from you,” Scott Co. Special Deputy Ray Dawson said. “And they’re successful and they are criminals, you will have a hard road to clear your credit, to clear your responsibility.”

Detectives said thieves are using people’s credit cards to order new phones and laptops, ship them to that person’s home and try to swipe them before they even realize what happened.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Kentucky and South Central Indiana told WAVE News that this scheme is new. Not many cases of it have been documented in our area yet.

However, these cases could become much more common. Dawson and his fellow deputies received enough calls and reports in recent days to warrant writing a post about the scheme on Facebook.

“(Criminals are) willing to set and do hundreds of these things, probably, just to get those 10, 15, 20 delivered to where they actually wanted the items delivered to," Dawson said.

BBB consumer advocates said the old version of this scam is called “brushing.” A scammer would send a victim a box with a cheap product to write a fake positive review.

Whitney Adkins with the BBB said package thieves have now graduated to targeting smartphones, tablets and laptops, often using sensitive personal identification details.

“(They) use your information, use your credit card to get a product delivered to you, at no cost to them, and then they hope to intercept the package before you actually get it,” Adkins said.

Adkins referred to the first case her agency documented in the Louisville Metro.

“(It) involved brand new iPhones,” Adkins said. “They were delivered to this person’s address, the person was very surprised and contacted her cellphone company.”

If a thief misses that window to steal the package, Adkins and Dawson said the scammer may also knock on your door to ask for that package, claiming it was sent to the wrong address.

Dawson said many neighbors have already done the right thing by calling his office. If deputies can’t track down the scammer themselves, local agencies can then bring in partners like the FBI and other federal investigators.

“Capture information and data,” Dawson said. “They have to have data and information, so they try to tie and close loops.”

Adkins said this evolution is another reminder for people to be cautious about where and how we shop or communicate online. “Information, it’s very valuable and it should be treated as such.”

If you are a victim of this new scam, Adkins and the BBB said the three most important things you can do include:

• Calling the company that sent you the product
• Call police
• Give investigators the package sent to you, to use as evidence in building a criminal case

You can also report scams to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and to the Federal Trade Commission.

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