Yorkville Police Warn Residents Of Courier Surprise Gift Scam

YORKVILLE, IL — The Yorkville Police Department is warning residents of an elaborate scam involving couriers delivering surprise gifts only to steal the unsuspecting victims hard-earned money as the scammers go on a shopping spree at their expense.

While this recent case did not happen in the village, Yorkville police said about a week ago, a victim received a phone call from someone saying that he was from Express Couriers. The caller asked if the victim was going to be home because there was a package that required a signature .

According to police, the caller said that the delivery would arrive in roughly an hour. About an hour later, police said a uniformed delivery man arrived with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. There was no special occasion or holiday, and the victim certainly wasn't expecting anything.

Police said when the victim asked who the sender was the courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."

The driver went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult of legal drinking age. The driver reportedly told the victim he would not leave the gift on the doorstep where it could be stolen.

Cash was offered, however, the delivery company required payment by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction, police said.

The "delivery man" asked the victim to swipe and enter a pin on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. A receipt was printed and a copy was given to the victim.

The guy said everything was in order, and wished the victim a good day.

To the victim's horrible surprise, between Thursday and Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from there account at various ATM machines.

The "mobile credit card machine," which the deliveryman carried had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all card details including the PIN number.

Police said after finding out about the illegal transactions, the bank was immediately notified. The account was closed and a new care was issued.

"Be wary of accepting any surprise gift or package which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package," the police department warned. "Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is."

Yorkville police are also warning residents that the only time a person should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when they, themselves, initiated the purchase.