Especially during and after the Christmas period, lots of parcels are in transit. Before Christmas, presents have to be sent in a hurry and after the gift-giving period, there are countless complaints about unwanted Christmas presents, that are then gladly resold on eBay. For the post office, this is a very stressful time.
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Parcels from neighbours
Delivery services are under a lot of pressure to ship lots of presents and deliver them on time. And then, no one is at home! Most of the time, we’re at work when people try to deliver packages to us. To make it easier for us, the postman gives most of our packages and deliveries to neighbours for safekeeping. We bet you’ve even taken in a package for one of your neighbours in the past. But you really shouldn’t be taking in these parcels, as media reports are now warning, because of fraud!
Illegal goods smuggled in
Criminals often use this method to obtain illegal goods. They have packages delivered to unoccupied residences and as planned, there is never anybody home to accept or sign for the package. Therefore, it is left with an unsuspecting neighbour and the person who actually placed the order then comes to pick it up later.
And this is when the trouble starts. Police investigations lead them to the neighbour’s house since they accepted the package with the illegal goods inside. And soon enough, they’re in the middle of a police investigation! So, make sure you always check the ID of the person who comes to collect the package or only accept packages for neighbours that you know and trust.
Check out the video above for more on this worrying trend...
