A woman has exposed a disturbing incident she had on her front porch, which began with a UPS delivery and a package. She warns other homeowners to be aware of unexpected visits on the door from strangers claiming to be hunting for a missing parcel.
Sonya Brown said it all began in January, when she was woken up by a UPS delivery man who delivered an unexpected gift. She signed for the parcel in a hurry, still in her bathrobe, not knowing what was inside.
When she opened the boxes, she discovered two brand-new iPhone 16 Pro Max devices worth more than $2,500, she told Tegna’s Kentucky affiliate WHAS. They were addressed to her, but the label included an unusual phone number.
This woman responded to the USPS scam text and got scammed for $700.
She fell for it because she was waiting for a package from overseas. She clicked the link and it asked for a card. Denied that card so she entered another one.
The post office would never text you. pic.twitter.com/r2n3ky3lmo
— Jelly Santos (@MrsJellySantos) January 3, 2025
Brown called Verizon, and the firm informed her that someone had opened an account in her name and purchased the phones. She was on the phone with the police, reporting the identity theft, when things took an unexpected turn.
Two women arrived at her door but her instinct told her not to answer. “I just kind of peeked and I don’t recognize them,” Brown said. “Then I realize that these are probably the people who want the package.” And they even came back two hours later and knocked again. “I just thought they’re absolutely crazy if they think I’m going to open the door,” she said.
Brown examined the footage from her doorbell camera and overheard a surprising interaction between the two women. One of them said, “So I say – my name’s Sonya, he left the package here.” The second woman responded, “Yeah, your UPS package.”
Brown spoke out about the incident to warn other residents in Louisville, Kentucky. “You need to be aware,” Scott County, Indiana Sheriff Jerry Goodin told WHAS. “Most of these deliveries have confirmation numbers on them and they’ll know exactly when they’ll be delivered, so they’ll beat the victim to the mailbox.”
This is the result of jeets at UPS selling tracking information to criminals. None of their tracking data is siloed or has the barest amount of accountability. Some guy who lives in Mumbai and works in customer service can look up every tracking number that originates from one of… https://t.co/8JVecEMmId
— Dissident Soaps (@DissidentSoaps) March 29, 2025
After learning of the plan, the Better Business Bureau advised the public to report any similar circumstances to the authorities. “Someone’s trying to open an account in your name, that means they’ve somehow gotten ahold of your personal information,” Whitney Adkins from the BBB told WHAS.
Police were investigating, and the phones were confiscated as part of the investigation. UPS did not immediately reply to a request for comment from reporters and news websites.
