Should I be worried? SIM cards and then Debt collection letter received (in someone elses name).

mikeysthoughts

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This one is a bit of an odd one and despite my best Googling efforts I can't seem to find a rational explanation or clear way forward.

About three months ago we received a SIM card in the post to our home address and another one a couple of weeks later - two SIM cards in total, both with identical packaging and for the same network, indicating they both came from the same source. In both cases the addressee is the same unknown 'person' (let's call him John Doe). We checked with the neighbours and nobody of that name has ever lived at our address (our place was built in mid-80s and they've lived there all their lives).

Today we received a debt collection letter from Wescot on behalf of Paypal for £630+ addressed to the same recipient "John Doe". I spoke to Wescot to explain we don't know John Doe, and they have never lived at our address. They didn't seem overly perplexed by this information, making me think it might not be a rare ocurrence.

We've checked our Paypal accounts and credit scores and no unusual activity there. No kids in the house. I can't fathom why this might be happening, as the SIM cards themselves arrived through our door rather than being intercepted? Perhaps there have been more that were intercepted? I have a spare webcam that I will set up to watch the front door.

1) What sort of activity could this be?
2) What more should I do to ensure we are protected?
3) Any advice on how to prevent this in future?
 
The sims could have been ordered as part of a scam to setup a credit history and then that history used to run up the PayPal debt.
 
Interesting -
The sims could have been ordered as part of a scam to setup a credit history and then that history used to run up the PayPal debt.

How does a PAYG SIM card help with setting up a credit history at someone else's address?
 
People using someone else’s address for dodgy reasons seems to be on the increase. I recently got about 20 small parcels addressed to someone I’d never heard of. Someone had set up an eBay account to sell fake items using my address. People who bought the items were returning them for a refund. When I reported it eBay weren’t surprised either. They did tell me I could report it to the police but since my own accounts weren’t affected I didn’t see the point. I would if anything further happens though.
 
A few years ago we started gettig O2 bills in an unknown name. I sent them back as no known person. This happened a few times then it was a red letter then one from the debt collectors. I expected some battle but one phone call to them was the last we heard of it.

I presumed some scammer got a month of free mobile or whatever.
 
The sims could have been ordered as part of a scam to setup a credit history and then that history used to run up the PayPal debt.
Don’t you need to have a verified PayPal account to run up a debt on PayPal?
Verified via linked debit/credit card registered to that address?
 

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