Can an Identity Theft Victim Keep Items Purchased By the Offender
My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: New York
I have a pre-paid debit card. The card was sent to my old address before i could change it (by 1 day) I moved. The people at my old address opened my mail, and took my card and used it to make online purchases, with my name and card number. They had these items shipped to my old address. I caught the items before they could be shipped and I thought i had canceled the orders. The company still shipped the items 12 days later. I got a refund of my money, (after getting it back once and having them RE-Charge it to my card), The item in question was on a payment plan, and there is still 260.00+ dollars left to pay on it. The police obtained the item from my previous address that where shipped to and gave them to me. They where shipped VIA FedEx. The police are involved and are handling the charges involved. (fraud, identify theft etc.)
Now do i have to send it back or Can i keep it? Do i run the risk of the company coming after me if i keep it? Even if i had called to cancel the order?
I"m sorry if this is in the wrong section.
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
Either pay for the items or send them back. You KNOW what the right answer is.
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
They want me to pay to have it shipped back, they wont send me a label, it also says so in the packing instructions about returning the items (if you don't want them), that to send them back you have to pay for the shipping. I know what right and wrong, I want to know what is LEGAL.
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
did you tell the seller they were illegally purchased using your card? I don't know how you can explain you have the items in your possession since they were purchased by some other party fraudulently using your card. Having the police report on hand might help. Sending them a copy of the report might help as well.
The huge problem is: the police would not have given you the items unless you told them you were going to keep them and even then they should not have given them to you. They were not your property. In fact, they were proof of a crime (you know, evidence). I can see no legitimate reason the cops would have given them to you. I suspect the seller is thinking the same.
Dang, why would you even open the packages since they were not yours?
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
I did inform the seller they where illegally ordered with my card, they refunded my money to the card, they told me their fraud department would contact me (they never did, but i got my money back), Then after i had canceled the cards, they charged it to me again (via transaction codes). They shipped the order 12 days after it was placed the first time, I had told them it was fraud one day after the charges came up the first time. I also got my money back the second time,
The police picked up the items from the driveway of the person who used my card (who is a convicted felon). I think so he wouldn't get a receiving stolen property charge. (not 100% sure).
The police called me and told me to come and pick up the items, in question. The package which had been sitting out in bad weather for several days was destroyed by rain and snow. It wasn't really opening them, but more of the fact that the box wouldn't support the weight of the items (everything inside was packaged in plastic)
I don't know why the police gave them to me, the detective in question just told me to come and get them, which i did. He was not actually there when i picked up the items, but they where given to me, with nothing more than a "have a nice day" no signatures, no records, nothing. I did give records of my pre-paid debit card to the officer, with the attempted transactions and the one that actually went through. (since it's a pre-paid the charges bounced until i actually put money on the card)
Should I go back to him and ask?
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
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The police picked up the items from the driveway of the person who used my card (who is a convicted felon). I think so he wouldn't get a receiving stolen property charge. (not 100% sure).
so the cops completely ignored the fact the convicted felon was in the process of committing another felony and actually acted to protect him from prosecution in some way?
the more you post, the more it appears there was no crime at all.
so, have you gotten a copy of the report where you reported the fraudulent use of your card?
what you need to do is call the police and tell them the property is not yours and you have no idea why they would give it to you. They need to do something with it. Them hanging onto it as evidence of the prosecution of the criminal seems like a good idea but for some reason I suspect that just isn't going to happen (the prosecution that is).
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
The people who took the cards also attempted to use them at a local grocery chain here in ny, (TOPS) Which is how we got them on camera trying to use the card, but since it's a pre-paid they didn't actually go through. The charges for the online items only went through 2 weeks after the first attempted use because I had loaded money onto the card. The officer is also handling the mail fraud charges because we don't a investigator at our local post office. There where two cards in the mail one for me and one for my bf, we share the same account for our cards, but they each have our own names on our own cards. They attempted to order the items online 3 times before they actually went through. Again pre-paid so i didn't know they where even trying it until my card got debited.
I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing, there is more to the story, it's my father's house etc, he sold it to them, no written agreements, them not paying, blah blah blah, Mostly, i leave that WHOLE huge problem to my dad.
I know they are prosecuting him, and he was arrested for it. The officer told me so, and that he had talked to the DA about the case. I have gotten the report number for the fradulent use of my card, and submitted to the pre-paid debit card issuer, They in turn canceled the cards with the report. They wouldn't cancel them otherwise. (another edit- when i said cancel i meant the transactions not the actual cards)
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
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Quoting
ravemidnight
, They in turn canceled the cards with the report. They wouldn't cancel them otherwise.
what? You mean you could never cancel the cards unless there was a verifiable fraudulent use of them? Wow, do those guys have a racket going on or what?
the fact is: you have no right to whatever was in the packages. Don't forget your thread title:
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Can an Identity Theft Victim Keep Items Purchased By the Offender
It doesn't appear you want to return the items but rather find a way to keep whatever. How do you even know what the items are? Do the items just happen to fit you or are something you want?
Call the police and ask them why they gave the items to you. It makes absolutely no sense they would give them to you without you telling them they were your property. That is evidence of the crime. Unless the guy actually had possession of the packages, convicting them of anything is extremely involving the mail situation (and since they were sent FedEx, it is not mail fraud and even if there was an investigator at your local post office, they would do nothing because it does not involve the USPS) unlikely. Since they were simply in the guys drive, there is no way to prove he ordered the stuff or even knew about it.
If you did tell the police they were your property, then pay for them. If not, return them to the police and tell the bank that if they want the property or the money, they need to contact the police. Of course having a contact number and name for them would be a good idea.
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
I'll try and explain it a little more, to the best of what the officer told me. That he ended up admitting that he attempted to use the cards at TOPS, after he lied and said it was not him. Video footage ended up showing it was him. This transaction did NOT go through. Then he attempted to make 3 more charges of the items in question, on three seperate occasions before the last 4th time it actually went through, because i loaded money onto the card. At That time it was thought that the items in question has not been shipped, because that is what the seller told me, and they had refunded my money. Then 12 days after the initial charge they shipped it and only 2 days after the initial refund, they charged it to me again. I called them back, and they fixed it AGAIN, and refunded my money AGAIN. But inbetween that time I had already filed a police report, and had the cards canceled. (they charged me using the transaction codes, instead of the card number, because they had shipped the product already, I have no idea why company would do that, and it confuses the heck out of me.) The police then in turn told him/his lawyer about getting the property into police possesion. He was already arrested and charged by the time the items in question arrived... He flat out refused to take the items into his home. The police picked them up and i got a phone call telling me to come get them.. and you know most of the rest of the story,,,
I just don't want to have to pay for shipping of an item i didn't order. Which i think is insane. Its you shipped them after i told you it was fraud, why should I have to pay to ship them back? In my case, it's something i don't need nor really want. So it's not that i don't want to return them, but more of the fact that i don't want to pay for it,
But he did have to open my mail to get my cards out of it,
Also that wasn't me who posted that title, someone changed it. :( i didn't know someone else could, my original title was "Do i have to send it back?"
EDIT
he used his phone number when ordering the items in question.
Re: Do I Have to Send It Back
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Its you shipped them after i told you it was fraud, why should I have to pay to ship them back?
it's not always that easy to stop an order already in progress.
I still do not see why the police turned over the items to you. You had no right to them and no duty to return them or accept them. By accepting them, you really kind of put yourself in the position you are in.
I think that may be why the seller is being so firm on their position. I suspect they cannot understand why you would have possession of the items since you reported them as being ordered fraudulently by another party living at a different address. Unless you can convince whomever wants the items back there is truth to the story, I suspect you are either stuck paying to send them back or simply paying for the merchandise.
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He was already arrested and charged by the time the items in question arrived..
he couldn't have been charged for the fraudulent purchases that were shipped to him by then.