Local woman's diverted UPS package may be part of crime ring
Lynn Mancini of Tallmadge ordered a $900 laptop from her employer’s secure online store.
Mancini can’t disclose where she works, but it is fair to say it is a high-tech company. She had to log in with “a triple-secure, multi-factor authentication process” to make the order. Her work email to get the the UPS tracking number also has strict security measures.
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She saw the laptop had been shipped and was on the way.
But the laptop never made it to Mancini’s home. The twists and turns in this package’s diversion could make for a good action movie. It's likely that her diverted package is part of an elaborate crime ring.
UPS package never arrives, gets diverted
“A couple days go by and I didn’t get it, which surprised me,” Mancini told me.
She checked the tracking number again.
"What is this?" Mancini thought to herself.
The package delivery instructions had been diverted to and picked up at an Akron location of an Advance Auto Parts, which is an authorized UPS Access Point. That means consumers can pick up or drop off pre-packaged or pre-labeled UPS shipments.
Mancini called and talked to a manager who happened to be the person who handled the package pickup. He sounded apologetic once he found out that the package was not picked up by the correct person. The person who picked up the package had ID that matched the name in the UPS system as an authorized person for the pickup: Turquoise Jacks.
But Mancini doesn’t know a Turquoise Jacks.
“Somebody had to get at that UPS number and divert the shipment,” Mancini said. “The whole thing seems like a pretty elaborate shipment diversion.”
Mancini immediately reported the problem to UPS. She had trouble getting to a person but filed a report. She also reported the problem to her employer, who refunded her money and shipped her a new laptop, which she actually received. Additionally, Mancini filed a report with Tallmadge police but because she was reimbursed by her employer and wasn’t out any money, the investigation was closed.
Laura Holmberg, a UPS spokeswoman, said the company was aware of the incident and was continuing to investigation the situation.
"In order to pick up packages at UPS Access Point locations, recipients must present their government-issued photo ID,” she said.
“UPS delivers over 20 million packages a day around the world. While fraudulent activity does happen, it is rare,” said Holmberg. “Customers can find many valuable tips on UPS.com on ways to protect themselves from fraud and scams. If a customer has concerns, they should send examples to UPS at fraud@ups.com or report it to the Federal Trade Commission.”
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The manager at the local Advanced Auto Parts store declined to comment and referred me to the corporate headquarters. Cliff Cermak, an Advance Auto Parts spokesman, gave me this statement: “We’re continuing to investigate this situation, working closely with UPS. Once our investigation concludes, we’ll determine if changes to our training procedures are necessary.”
More twists in diverted UPS package story
To be safe after the incident, Mancini changed all her passwords and made sure she had a freeze on her credit report. She also ironically got a text that appeared to come from UPS telling her to “click here” for information about your package. She didn’t click because she knew that is actually a common scam to try to get people to click on a text or email and put in information for a scammer.
So that was probably just a coincidence that she got the text at the same time she was digging into what happened to her package.
But in another twist, Mancini said her son, who lives elsewhere in Ohio, received a call from someone at UPS’ fraud department. Her son forwarded the message to Mancini and after she and her kids did some research to verify the number was truly a UPS number, she phoned the person back. She was told that a fake UPS account supposedly tied to an America Online email account for her son, who hasn’t lived with his parents in years and his parents have since moved, was created to divert the package.
Mancini said no one in her family has used AOL in decades. They’re not sure if the email address was an old unused one, or if it was created by the scammers.
“Someone had enough information to create this bogus "My UPS" account. It has been disabled by UPS,” she said.
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What can you do to prevent fraud?
There’s not much Mancini could have done to prevent this from happening, but she said she’s being more vigilant about watching any packages’ journeys and where they may get delivered if not to her house.
UPS offers these tips:
Received a text, call or email that seems suspicious? Don’t respond to it.
Slow down. Scammers rely on urgency to create panic. Be cautious of anything that implies you must act immediately.
Don’t click. Check the link. Legitimate UPS links will start with “https://www.ups.com”, “https://billing.ups.com”, "https://go.ups.com" or "http:/links4.upsemail.com".
Check the details. Are there spelling or grammar errors? Generic greetings, like “Sir or Madame?” Fraudsters will frequently use small typos to trick you into clicking on the link.
Report it. Send examples to UPS at fraud@ups.com or report it to the Federal Trade Commission.
Delete and block it. Then you don’t accidentally interact with it later.
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Also, make sure you don’t accidentally become what’s called a money or package mule. According to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, a lot of people get caught up in a scheme when someone befriends them on social media or a dating site. Then the person makes up a story and finds a reason to send you money or a package — if you’ll just forward it to someone else. That money or package could be stolen goods and then you’ll get into legal trouble as the mule.
Beacon Journal consumer columnist and medical reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Diverted UPS package could be part of crime ring
