53. Credit Card Fraud
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This story starts off with a slightly less humorous fact…a few days ago, I was on the unfortunate end of credit card fraud. The fraudsters decided to take my CC info and purchase $1000 worth of car parts from Philly and have it sent across the border to the city I currently live in, Vancouver, Canada.
I got a call this morning about a DHL shipment entering the country that required customs to be paid. Knowing I haven’t shipped anything with DHL in forever. I quickly come to the realization that it must be the fraudsters shipping their goods here.
“It can’t be!” I thought. Who in their right mind would use a stolen credit card to order something to their own house in the city the owner of the card lives.
After a brief chat with DHL about the customs fees I will not be paying, I manage to obtain the address the package was being sent to. I hummed and hawed about it but eventually decided the best thing to do was call the local police department and let them know what was up. I told the officer all about the situation.
Unfortunately, I did not know what car the parts were for, and I hoped this info helps them somehow in the future. He tells me that the chances are slim, but he will swing by the house (it’s literally 15 minutes from my own) just to see if anything weird is going on and follow up with me if he needs to. I thank him and go on with my work day.
About an hour later, I get a call from the same officer, obviously excited. “Hi, it’s Officer X. You will never guess what just happened. I was following up on the report and drove by the house. I decided to go knock on the door just to see if anyone was home and ask them a couple of questions.
A man opened the door, and as we were talking, DHL drove up to deliver the package. Yes, that’s right, the exact package we had been discussing. “The delivery driver walks up to the door and says, ‘Hi, is [my name] there?’ to which the man replies, ‘Oh yeah, he’s just downstairs.’
You can imagine my surprise! ‘That’s pretty funny because I just got off the phone with him, and I know for a fact he doesn’t live here,’ I said. The guy, no joke, looks me dead in the face and goes, ‘Oh whatever, the package is paid for.’
“I chuckled and turned to the DHL driver to tell him should leave because I need to make an arrest. I’m calling you while I drive back to the precinct, thought it might brighten your day!” I still cannot believe that they caught the guy, but thought it was a story that was too good not to share.
