Phone return fraud: Scammers are tricking Utahns into shipping them ‘free’ iPhones
Phone return fraud: Scammers are tricking Utahns into shipping them ‘free’ iPhones
Publish Date: 2026-05-20 00:40:00
Source Domain: ksltv.com
OGDEN — Imagine getting billed month after month for a phone you never wanted and that you thought you had already sent back to the carrier. That’s the situation Terry Caselli faces.
It started with a call last July. The caller claimed to be from Xfinity and offered Terry a lower bill and a free iPhone.
“I said, ‘Well, I don’t need a phone,’” Caselli recalled.
He declined the offer. But days later, the iPhone showed up anyway. Then, within minutes of delivery came another call from the same caller.
“They said that they mailed that to me by mistake,” Caselli said.
The caller begged him to rush the phone back. So, he printed the prepaid return label and shipped it off.
Within weeks, new charges hit his cell phone bill. He immediately called Xfinity.
“So, what’s this for?” he asked the customer service agent.
“Well, that’s for the iPhone,” the agent responded.
“I said, ‘I don’t have an iPhone,’” Caselli said.
That’s when he realized he’d been scammed by someone pretending to be an Xfinity agent.
Here’s how this phone return fraud works: A crook calls the customer claiming to be from the carrier. They’ll offer the customer a deal for the service or a free device like an iPhone. During the call, the crook tricks the customer into giving up account info. Once the call ends, they use that info to log into the customer’s account with the carrier and order a phone. It’ll be shipped to the customer’s actual address. Within minutes of delivery, the crook, still pretending to be from the carrier, calls back with apologies for some sort of mistake. They send the customer a prepaid return label so the phone can be shipped back immediately. Except the address on that label really goes to the crook. They get the phone. The customer gets the bill.
It neatly sidesteps fraud protections because the carrier sees the device going to its legitimate customer.
Caselli said Xfinity removed the charge, but…
