Rodney M Bliss

What Do I Do With This Stolen iPhone 6?

rodneymbliss

I am in possession of about $800 worth of stolen goods.

I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. The thing is, no one is actually looking to recover these items. They were stolen from Walmart.com. I know how much they cost because it was my debit card that they were charged to.

I’ll go back to the beginning. About two weeks ago I got a call saying that there was suspicious activity on my debit card. Because I work for a company that handles credit card fraud, I immediately hung up and called my bank back. Yep. My card really had been hacked. There were a whole bunch of purchases at Walmart.com. I shop at Walmart, but I never shop at Walmart.com.

I reported the charges as fraud. My credit union did what every bank and credit union does, they refunded the cost. They also cancelled my card and I went in to get a new one. Interestingly, I was also reminded of the things I autopay. They all failed the next time they tried to bill my account. Oh, joy.

Anyway, we figured the issue was over. I spent some time trying to figure out where I could have been when my account information was stolen. I couldn’t think of any obvious examples. We assumed the issue was resolved.

Then the packages started showing up. Yep, all that stuff that was ordered ended up getting shipped to my house. And that’s when the “mystery” was solved. Everything came addressed to my 14 year old son. These were items from his Walmart.com Wish List. How they ended up getting billed to my card is still a mystery. But, at least I didn’t have to try to remember where I’d lost my account number. He doesn’t even remember hitting “Purchase” on those items.

But, we have a problem now. This stuff isn’t mine. Oh, sure, I’d love to upgrade to an iPhone 6 with an Apple Watch. But, I try to live an honest life. The stuff wasn’t mine and I needed to give it back.

First I went to my neighborhood Walmart. You can return stuff you bought on Walmart.com to your local Walmart.

But. . .

Walmart only knows how to give you money back for a return. They aren’t set up to take back merchandise without issuing you a refund. I don’t want a refund. I already got the charges reversed. If they sent me a refund, I’d just have money that wasn’t mine instead of stuff that wasn’t mine.

Next I called Walmart.com and talked to Frank.

Thanks for calling Walmart.com. This is Frank. How can I assist you today?

Frank, my name is Rodney and I can guarantee this call is going to be unlike any call you have had today.

I explained my problem to Frank. I have to admit, a part of me was hoping Frank might say, “Well, just keep the $400 iPhone.” Frank didn’t say that. But, the only thing Frank wanted back was the iPhone. The rest of the stuff was sold by other companies through Walmart.com. Frank gave me a long list of company phone numbers.

I’m now in the process of calling a half dozen companies asking how I can send them back their stolen goods. I’m sure at least one will say keep the shield. See, it’s made of cheap plastic. It cost $8 for the shield and $38 shipping. Pretty sure the company won’t want to pay that to get it back. But, it’s their stuff. I’ll at least ask them.

As for the person responsible? We are not planning to tell him what we changed his Walmart.com password to.

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. 

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(c) 2017 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved 

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