The most common way they test a stolen credit card is with a small purchase of gasoline

@mtnrdredux_gw What if you don't have the physical card, though? I wonder if an algorithm picks up "test" purchases, and blocks the tests, eventually, like getting locked out for the wrong password entry. They go ahead and complete the phony purchase...Obviously, I know nothing of this dark side.

re: mtnrdredux comment - Years ago we received a credit card statement (remember when they came in the mail) and on it were several charges for gas at our local gas station for .10 and .05. Really strange but we immediately cancelled our cards. There hadn't been any other charges.

Could they be Christmas presents for her kids from relatives? Amazon is known for not including gift cards.

There a scam like this called brushing, in order to write fake reviews that seem real (details here). A seller pays a third party to purchase their products through fake buyer accounts they’ve created, the item is mailed to a random address. Then the seller can write a positive review that's marked as "verified purchase".

I can't imagine they would practice this with expensive items but who knows... maybe.

No matter why this is happening, it's very important that your friend notifies the retailer that they're receiving random things.

I wonder if this is what's going on:

Last December, one of my credit cards (which was never out of my possession) was used fraudulently online twice. One purchase was for a Vitamix mixer and the other was for hair growth products. The Vitamix customer service rep gave me the ship-to address, which was in Vegas, but the hair care company would not. My credit card company absolved me of all responsibility and I didn't pay a dime. But it still stuck in my craw and I wanted the people at that house caught. So I called the police dept. at the destination. They told me I had to start with my own PD and then the two PDs would work directly together. But when I called my local PD, the officer explained to me that most often the homeowners at the destination address had zero knowledge or culpability. It is common practice for credit card thieves to ship to abandoned houses, brand new houses which nobody has moved into yet, or just nearby houses which they can quickly drive to and pick up the package as soon as they get the "your package is on the way/has been delivered" alert. In his words, this happens upwards of 95% of the time, so they no longer expend dept. resources checking out these thefts. How clever/annoying is that? And sure enough, I did a Google map photo search and this was a brand new subdivision with most homes still under construction.

Obviously, the thief doesn't always collect the package -and that's when people get weird things addressed to someone else at their address. It does seem weird to me that in this case, it's way out in the country,

Besides my most recent misdelivered package debacle, I had a problem with packages being delivered from Ballard’s that were intended for a neighbor. Over and over. Apparently her address had been entered in their computer system transposing the numbers. I’m not sure how she finally got it straightened out with them, but it took several tries. If your shipments are all from one place, like Amazon, maybe something similar has happened on their end?

We have an online business and have a weird, similar experience that we can't figure out. We will have a sale and ship the package. Much the same, the recipient will get the package and call us to say they didn't order it. The charge goes through fine, but nobody gets the item. The charge is never disputed.

Are they just testing the stolen cards??? It seems so weird; if I was going to test a stolen card, I'd not order auto parts.

@lobby68 - see my post above re: fake review scams. Does your business website have customer reviews for the items?

Another scam can be for people to have items sent to an address, monitor it, and grab the package off the porch. I believe this is a way that they can use a stolen credit card but avoid being caught since they used somebody else's address.

Here’s an article about ”brushing” scam. Offshore marketplace vendors are shipping items to any address to get a verified purchase to create a verified review.

I have been the recipient of items I did not purchase twice. Here’s what happened both times. My credit card was compromised by a skimmer at ( I beleieve), a gas station and another time at an airport snack shop. Each time an item was delievered to me by Fed Ex. I was at home each time and met the deliveryman at the door. After talking with my credit card issuer and the local sheriff, I learned that this is a common scam.

Your credit card’s magnetic stripe contains not only your account number, but also name and address. The bad guys order an item and have it shipped to you. In my case they also set up a FedEx tracking account using my name and address, but with their email address. They are then able to track the shipment and wait down the street from your home hoping to steal the item from your porch before you get to it. Its actually pretty clever - they can’t easily be caught. Although you can’t avoid card theft completely, you can try to outwit the thief.

Consider the following:

Establish accounts (they’re free) with FedEx, UPS, DHL and USPS to be able to receive notification when packages are in their system and headed your way. This is NOT the same as receiving a notification from a shipper that your item has shipped.

Install a conspicuous camera at your front door - or where your packages are delivered. Frankly, the camera doesn’t necessarily have to be working. The thief won’t risk being seen and will leave the package. You keep the item or contact the seller to return it.