Police warn public to be alert over a mobile phone delivery scam

PSNI have warned the public to be on the alert for conmen posing as members of a delivery company who are trying to steal mobile phones.

The warning was sounded  after a man was the victim of an attempted scam in Ballymena on Wednesday.

The man received a package containing two new phones from O2 which he had not ordered.

He was instructed to take the phones to the post office at his earliest convenience to return them to O2.

A short time later he received a call from a person purporting to be from a delivery company saying the delivery had gone to the wrong address.

The caller then told him that they would call to his house to collect the package.

The householder instructed the caller that he had contacted O2 and the police and the caller then rang off.

Police believe the phones, once collected by the scammers, would then have been sold on.

Detectives are advising anyone who receives phones or any other items they have not ordered to contact the company the delivery is from in the first instance and report it.

Police should also be contacted if any member of the public is in any way worried that the delivery has not been a genuine mistake.

“There are numerous types of frauds/scams being practiced by fraudsters and they come in many guises,” a spokesperson said.

“The ability of fraudsters to practice new scams is infinite.”