I am relaxing a bit on my lunch break and scrolling through my phone when I get a phone call. Upon answering it, I realize it’s a scam call. Feeling a little bored, I decide to have some fun.

Scammer: “Hello, this is [Scammer] from [Online Retailer] customer service. There has been some fraudulent activity on your account.”

Me: “What did you say your name was?”

Scammer: *A bit confused* “Um, it’s [Scammer].”

Me: “Okay, great. How do you spell that?”

Still confused, the scammer spells his name.

Me: “All right, then, [Scammer]. So, what’s wrong with my [Online Retailer] account, again?”

Scammer: “There appears to have been some fraudulent activity on your account in China. Do you know anyone in China who might be able to explain this?”

Me: “No, I don’t, but you know what’s funny? I don’t have an [Online Retailer] account.”

Click.

I get a call on my mobile phone from a number I don’t recognise. I suspect it’s a scam but answer it anyway, just in case.

Scammer: “Hi, can I speak to [My Name]?”

Me: “Who’s calling?”

Scammer: “Hi, [My Name]. How are you today?”

Me: “Can you tell me who’s speaking?”

Scammer: “You’re rude. I’m not telling you anything.”

I hung up. I’m really not sure what he hoped to achieve by this.

I rent a condo. When renting, it’s not uncommon to receive mail for a previous resident who hasn’t updated their contact information. Since I’ve lived in the condo for about four years, the mail for other people has tapered off except for the occasional bit of junk mail.

Then, I suddenly start receiving a flood of mail for a woman whose name I don’t recognize. At first, I do nothing but mark the envelopes as “return to sender” and put them in the outgoing mail slot. Once I’ve gotten well over twenty pieces of mail, I ask my landlord if she recognizes the name as a previous resident.

My landlord is a retired woman who owns just the unit she lives in and mine, which she rents out for some income. She doesn’t recognize the name of the person whose mail I’m receiving, and she’s only rented out to two people before me. Since she keeps to herself, for the most part, she doesn’t know if there’s anyone in the condo complex by that name.

Over time, the mail looks more and more urgent, even from the outside. I start getting a lot of envelopes marked “past due” and “final notice.” One day, someone knocks on my door.

Debt Collector: “Hello. I’m looking for [Person whose mail I keep getting] regarding some debts that have been sent to collections.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but there’s no one here by that name. Her mail has been coming to my address for months, but I don’t know why.”

Debt Collector: “Oh. Well, do you know her current address or a phone number?”

Me: “No. I’ve never heard of her before receiving her mail. My landlord has owned this unit since it was built and doesn’t know her, either. No one by that name has ever lived here.”

Debt Collector: “Are you sure?”

Me: “Yes! If you do find her, please tell her to stop having her mail sent to me.”

The debt collector leaves and the mail doesn’t stop. Several other debt collectors come looking for the woman over the next week, resulting in pretty much the same conversation each time. I’m getting very frustrated with the situation. A week later, there’s another knock on my door, but this time it’s the police.

Police Officer: “Good afternoon, ma’am. Are you [Person whose mail I keep getting]?”

Me: “No, I’m not. Her mail has been coming to my address for months now, but no one of that name has ever lived here. I don’t know who she is or where you can find her. If I knew how to contact her, I would tell her to stop sending me her overdue bills.”

Police Officer: “Do you know anyone who might know her location?”

Me: “You can try asking my landlord, but she didn’t recognize the name, either.”

I gave the police officer my landlord’s phone number and hoped it would help in clearing up the situation. The mail did start to slow down after about a week. The next time I talked to my landlord, she told me what had happened.

At an HOA meeting not long after the police officer contacted my landlord, she asked the other homeowners if they recognized the woman’s name. One of them did. She turned out to be an elderly woman with undiagnosed dementia, living alone. After moving into Unit 33 several months before, she had mixed up the address and thought she was in Unit 3, my unit. She used my address for all her contact information. Due to her mental state, she didn’t find it unusual that she simply stopped receiving bills upon moving in.

The police officer was looking for her, not to collect a debt, but to do a wellness check; an elderly person who stops paying bills for several months raises some red flags, after all. Once he found her and saw that she was clearly unable to live alone, he got in contact with her family. They found a safer living arrangement for her.

I’m glad the woman got the help she needed, but I started feeling pretty guilty once I learned the full story. I’d spent months feeling annoyed at this woman and suspecting her of fraud. All the while, she was in a vulnerable situation and might have gotten help sooner if I hadn’t just ignored her mail. Nothing like this has ever happened to me again, but if it does, I’ll bring it to someone’s attention far sooner.

This story is part of our Best Of February 2021 roundup!

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I work for a large multinational retailer. My coworker answers the phone to a caller with a foreign accent.

Coworker: “Hello, [Retailer]. This is [Coworker].”

Caller: “Hello. I am from the Internet provider. I am calling because your Internet is slow.”

Coworker: “Okay.”

Caller: “Are you the only user on your connection?”

Coworker: “Yes.”

Caller: “Yes, I can see that.”

Coworker: “You know you’ve called [Retailer], right?”

Caller: “Yes.”

Coworker: “You know they’re a huge company, right?”

Caller: “Yes.”

Coworker: “Do you want me to put you on with the owner?”

The caller hung up. We joked that they were going to ask us to pay them in iTunes gift cards, which is actually something that we stock.

I’m out to do errands with my husband. He has just parked our car in a large-ish free parking lot that serves several shops. As I exit the car, there’s a strong gust of wind and I can’t avoid the door hitting the side of a car nearby with an audible “thunk.” My husband comes around from the other side and we contemplate the damage; our car is all right but for a small dent, but there’s a visible scratch on the other one.

Husband: “We can’t stay here waiting for the owner to show up. Just leave a note with our phone number under the windshield wiper and let’s go.”

While I’m doing this, a well-dressed man in his forties appears.

Man: “Excuse me. Is something the matter?”

He says he works in one of the offices above and the car we’re standing nearby is his wife’s. We explain what happened, apologize, and offer to fill out the Accident Statement so that our insurance will cover the cost of repairs. During the entire conversation, he’s understanding and polite.

Man: “You know what, it’s a pity to go through insurance; your fee will go up. Personally, I wouldn’t even bother with such a scratch, but it happens to be my wife’s car. Why don’t we just settle the matter between us?”

He offers us a deal: 100€ in cash to cover the bodywork costs and no need to go through insurance with all the related hassle. I’m tempted to agree, as we’ve been standing in the parking lot long enough and I’m freezing. My husband is not convinced and would still rather do the Accident Statement. While they’re talking, two elder ladies with shopping bags show up.

Old Lady: “What are you lot all doing right by my car?”

Realization of what had happened struck us like lightning. I turned around from looking at the ladies to speak to the man, but he had already scarpered!