I bought a stolen item online, what now?
I bought a physical item (iPhone5) with a great deal, had to pay the seller trough Western Union, then he told me that he gave my info to his dropshipper company and the item will be sent soon.
Now i've received the item but suprisingly inside the package there's a invoice on someone else's name and my address put as "delivery address".
I googled the seller and found his info on diversity of websites reported as credit card frauder, so i fear that this item he sent me has been bought online with a stolen credit card!
What happens now?
Use it
You may be arrested. That is a well known crime. All the paperwork is in your name and Western Union payments can't be traced. I would immediately report it to the police before they come looking for you.
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If i were you i would call the police first and explain the situation and see if you can get your money back. Get a receipt from western union and get evidence of everything that happen to file it with the police. If someone else calls the police first then you will look like the bad guy.
You could take your info to the police and tell them the deal, maybe you turn in a guy who is stealing a lot of things… If you DO get caught, you could be in trouble, as you knew it was stolen. Will a carrier even sign you up on it? Maybe it wasn't one of your better ideas.
Take the box, the invoice and copies of all emails to your local police
Your money is gone but at least you won't be arrested for credit card fraud if you tell the police. Otherwise once the person whose credit card number was stolen reports the theft, the police will be at your door arresting you as the phone was sent to you
You never buy phones from anyone who is not a well known retailer like Best Buy or Verizon or from anyone you can't meet IN PERSON at a phone store or Apple store. 99% of iPhones being sold online are stolen. A thief will not let you meet them at the phone store to transfer the account
< had to pay the seller trough Western Union >
That would have been my first warning something wasn't up. The problem with Western Union is that you have no congtrol over the money once you send it, you can't get it back once it's picked up, you can't trace it.
You may find out you can't use the phone if it's been reported as stolen and that ID number has been blocked.
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