Hans Meijers (57) and his family from Tilburg have been suffering from an order fraud since this summer. One ‘Michella Meijers’ orders stuff at Hans’s address and then doesn’t pay. Consequence? He receives reminders for unpaid packages worth 175 euros. “You feel powerless.”
The fraud first struck in August, when Hans was on holiday carefree. His eldest daughter, who stayed at home, called him because a package had been delivered for ‘Michella Meijers’. “It was about hair dye items. I thought that was a bit strange, but I thought nothing of it. I told her to just return the package.”
It didn’t stop there. A little later they received a package worth 175 euros. They sent that back too. “We already had a suspicion, but when we suddenly received a reminder, we knew what time it was”, Hans continues his story. “That’s when we knew it was really getting out of hand.”
“This caused many sleepless nights for us.”
The perpetrator ordered stuff, but never paid. People can cheat in this way because of the option to pay afterwards. Perpetrators hope that the items cannot be delivered and thus end up at a parcel point. The orderer then receives an email and collects the goods. The reminder is sent to the delivery address.
“This caused a lot of sleepless nights for us. We called the companies she ordered the packages from. They immediately blacklisted her.”
They also file a report with the police. Unfortunately, the police cannot help them because Hans and his family are ‘not financially disadvantaged’. In addition, the perpetrator most likely does not use a real name.
“Don’t think about having a bailiff waiting for you.”
Still, it causes a lot of headaches for Hans and his family. “The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the sight of those reminders. You should not think that suddenly a bailiff is waiting for you. You really feel powerless.”
The collection agencies are now aware of the fraud. Hans can ignore the letters. Yet he still wonders why anyone would do such a thing. “It is incomprehensible. My mother always said, “If you have a dime, you can’t spend a dime.” Work for your own money and don’t buy anything if you can’t afford it.”
At the moment it has been quiet at Hans’ front door for a while. The blacklist and calls to collection agencies seem to help. The question is for how long. “I don’t want to celebrate too early. She can use another name or a different home address. Then there is another victim and such a blacklist is of little use.”