ATLANTA — A woman says sophisticated scammers convinced her to mail a brand-new iPhone to criminals less than two hours after it was delivered.
Emily Ames said the phone was supposed to be an anniversary gift from her husband. The unopened iPhone arrived at her home, but within minutes she received a phone call from someone claiming to be with Xfinity.
“She knew that it was a silver iPhone, one terabyte Pro Max 17,” Ames said. “I hadn’t even opened the physical box to the phone yet.”
The phone was delivered at 10:59 a.m. Ames says the call came just 27 minutes later.
The caller had detailed information about the order and instructed Ames to take the phone to FedEx immediately and ship it back. The shipping label was addressed to a townhouse in Maryland.
“She said I needed to get it to FedEx by a 1:30 pickup time,” Ames said.
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Only later did Ames realize she had been targeted by scammers.
Afterward, she discovered Xfinity warns customers that it will never call and ask them to return a newly delivered device over the phone. The company includes similar warnings in order confirmations and package inserts.
In a statement, Comcast said:
“Customers are advised that if they suspect a potential scam or suspicious activity, they should contact Comcast to verify the legitimacy of any request or other concerning account activity.”
Ames isn’t the only customer who has reported the scheme.
In Washington state, Ashley Portner told Channel 2 she received a call from the same suspicious number shortly after a new phone was delivered to her doorstep.
“As soon as it hit my doorstep, I had a phone call from a missed number,” Portner said.
Portner became suspicious and instead went to an Xfinity store to verify what was happening.
Social media posts show customers from multiple wireless providers reporting similar scams in recent months.
Ames says companies should make scam warnings much more prominent so customers can spot red flags before they lose expensive devices.
Fortunately, Xfinity disabled the phone before it reached Maryland.
While the company does not typically reimburse customers who fall victim to scams, Ames told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray that Xfinity has agreed to make her whole, allowing her to purchase another phone.
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