Was I a Victim of a Fake "Royal Mail" Delivery Scam? Help?

[Tyler Smith]

Hello!
I know all my delivery persons (for the most part.) I was waiting for a delivery to my house today and I got busy sorting through some paperwork at my desk. A knock came on the door and before I could get to the door (maybe thirty seconds or so) I heard my garage door slam and a man came out of the garage. I saw a red Royal Mail van (unmarked by the fence) so I simply said: "Oh, hello!" And he said, "Just left you a package in the garage." And I smiled and said, "Thank you very much! I will go out and retrieve it in a minute!" And I came in for a minute or two and then went outside to the garage. There was no package, nothing...not one thing in my garage! I looked everywhere and no package to be found. This is not a regular occurrence by the RM, either. They usually knock and wait for me or leave my packages tucked safely behind a plant on my porch. My house is also a good ways from the street, and you have to open a very heavy gate. It's not that handy.

Is someone impersonating a Royal Mail delivery person to steal from people? To enter their garages and gardens? Is RM hiring people that haven't been vetted properly who might be taking customers packages...and then when we complain, saying,'Oh well, we left it in the garage, someone else must have taken it' ? I don't mean to be disparaging, because the Royal Mail people that come regularly are really lovely people. But this person...who was he? What was he doing in my garage? Acting like he delivered something when he didn't? And driving a Royal Mail truck, to boot? Can anyone buy a Royal Mail truck? It just feels creepy at the moment. And I never did get the package I was waiting for, either. (The truck, as I said was unmarked...but definitely a Royal Mail shaped/sized truck in the signature red.)

Please, if anyone knows of incidents like this...or what I can do...please let me know. Thank you.

[Lounge Lizard]

If the van is 'unmarked' then it is definately not a Royal Mail van, maybe an ex Royal mail van, and surely not a Royal Mail employee, something the local constabulary will surely be intersested in, and you're almost certainly not the only person so visited locally.

[chunk]

Was there something about him that suggested official eg an orange coat /reflective stripes etc.
this sort of thing is rare but not unheard off.

Theres no such thing as an unmarked royal mail van

the vans we use are regular production vans from companies like ford and others.
i see them daily being driven by builders /painters etc (in red) also old rm vans are often sold on
in which case the rm logo is painted over/removed.

this has obviously got your imagination running riot but he cant be a dishonest postman as you put it
are RM hiring people that haven't been vetted properly who might be taking customers
packages...and then when we complain, saying,'Oh well, we left it in the garage, someone else must have taken it'
his van would still have a logo on it.

[bigcol]

If the van is 'unmarked' then it is definately not a Royal Mail van...

Hire vans are used all the time.

[kawoxux]

Yeah tahts true, we use hire "thrify" vans quite a lot.. but a plain unmarked red van? doubt it..

[chunk]

true we often have white hire vans.

but the customer was hung up on it being red which i was suggesting means nothing.

[Tyler Smith]

Hello, Everyone!
Thank you for your responses.
I will go over the main points....
It was a red van and it looked exactly like an RM van without any logos on it.
There was a knock on the door, and when I went to answer it, my garage door slammed and he was coming out of my garage and said, "I've left a package for you." And as I said...there was no package in there.
Frankly, this was creepy.
Did he put something in there?
Was he "casing" my house to come later?
One friend I told said that I might have even interrupted a burglary...where he knocked on the door to see if anyone was home and then, since I didn't answer, he went right for the garage, looked to see what was in there and was going back to bring the truck in the driveway to take things...but I ended up seeing him and he had to say something. It may just be a very clever decoy for a burglary ring. A Royal Mail van is not suspicious-looking, is it?
I thought nothing of it, because the van was red....and my thought was, "Oh, well...they probably have extra vans that don't have logos on them...surplus vans." The only alarming thing was...there was nothing left in the garage.

Have you heard of anything like this happening? People taking RM vans to use in nefarious ways?
I left a message at the local RM office, should I also notify the police? Any information would be appreciated.
And I do know that sometimes RM has hired people as "extras" for times when there is a larger load of mail, right? Do you need to pass criminal checks to just work as a temporary/short term employee? (Just wondering.)

Thank you for being so helpful with your answers...I really appreciate it.

[Lounge Lizard]

Yes, contact the Police as I suggested yesterday.
Royal Mail would not use an 'unmarked' van, only red ones with 'Royal Man' on the sides and back or occasionally hire vans, usually white, branded with the hire company name or logo.

[chunk]

at the risk of repeating myself.

we don't use red vans without logos.
so it was not a rm van!

casual/ workers are really a christmas thing and they almost certainly wouldn't be
given a driving job ! unthinkable .

a postman would not claim he left a pkt on a doorstep as an aid to stealing it.
postman can be disciplined for pkts that go missing from doorsteps as its viewed that they were careless.
so he would automatically drop himself in it! etc
a thief would never even admit he had seen the pkt .

the fact they you are waiting on a packet to be delivered i think has clouded your thinking on this.
you were expecting a postie
so thats what you saw.

[Tyler Smith]

THE MYSTERY HAS BEEN SOLVED.

First of all, I promise you...it was a red RM truck that was unmarked. These must go up for sale after the RM has unemployed them?

I know that for sure it was a red RM unmarked truck. I am observant like that. I am not wrong about that part because I made a mental note.

However, you will NOT believe what happened....and how I found out what happened to my package. I am so angry I ...I don't even know what to say...outraged is better.
And you (dear RM'ers) were right....it was (thankfully) not the Royal Mail (whom I have really come to trust and have been so great to me with my deliveries.)

This morning (early am) I went out to put the cardboard/plastics for recycling. I had forgotten to put the bin out last night. As I got ready to throw some boxes and bottles in there, I looked inside the bin...and saw A LARGE SEALED BOX. I thought, "Oh, noooooo...." And sure enough, IT WAS THE PACKAGE I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR. That noise that I thought had been a garage door slamming was the sound of the RUBBISH BIN LID...where he HAD TOSSED MY PACKAGE IN...HE TOSSED MY PACKAGE IN THE RUBBISH BIN...three seconds before I came out to say, "Hello..." And he said, "I left your package in the garage." Isn't that really nice??? I am so upset right now...I came here to just write to you what happened....I cannot believe that people EMPLOY these shiftless, mean-spirited people. That box has been in there for three days, in the rubbish.

It was @HOME courier...as that was what was on the box. Can you tell me who is responsible for these so-called employees? I fear that it is a local guy with a truck which means that if I order anything from any company that uses these people....i will be targeted again.

You know what is ironic...I am a quiet person, I mind my own business....I don't have children or make any waves, pay my taxes...and am not really involved in anything to where I would have interactions with anyone (as I work at home). So, it's not like someone has a bone to pick with me........I promise that.

I didn't deserve that....and I wonder who else this is happening to...on this guy's route.

Anyway, thank you and I am so glad it wasn't RM...because I have had some of the nicest people from RM always ask how I am and how I am doing especially during storms and things like that. They have been stellar.

If you know how I should proceed with lodging a complaint...or anything...please let me know. I already wrote to the vendor to tell them.

Thank you again....and I apologize....for my questions...as I was stymied. I do promise you that it was an unmarked Royal Mail van...maybe it was a used one that had been retired and this Bozo the Clown is driving it around town, throwing other people's deliveries into their rubbish bins. This is a sad state of affairs. I am so upset.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://lr-design.co.uk/images/swf/ogilvy/dhl/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DHL @Home - Delivery Convenience.

follow the links on the red banner with white text - Contact

[Pat Ostman]

http://lr-design.co.uk/images/swf/ogilvy/dhl/

DHL @Home - Delivery Convenience.

follow the links on the red banner with white text - Contact

What website is that because it's not dhl's is it? Very poor domain if it is.

And the only red royal mail van is one used now by royal mail. You can buy a red van tomorrow, doesn't make it a RM van. Just a van that RM also purchase

[Lounge Lizard]

As the colour red is a trade mark of Royal Mail Group Ltd. they should enforce it for mail and parcel delivery vans.
No confusion like this then.

[Pat Ostman]

As the colour red is a trade mark of Royal Mail Group Ltd. they should enforce it for mail and parcel delivery vans.
No confusion like this then.

They probably have but they cannot stop anyone buying a red van, just to use it for that line of business.
You simply cannot trademark a red van, just how it's marketed. A red van DOES NOT automatically make it a Royal Mail van or even an EX RM van. Take a look next time you are out, you will see plenty of plumbers etc using identical MAKE and colour of vehicle.

A red van is just that, a red van and that's all the OP saw. From what I read the courier was not even seen in the van or driving off in it.

If he was there is a case for using a red van being wrong as they are in the same line of business.

[Lounge Lizard]

As the colour red is a trade mark of Royal Mail Group Ltd. they should enforce it for mail and parcel delivery vans.
No confusion like this then.

They probably have but they cannot stop anyone buying a red van, just to use it for that line of business.
You simply cannot trademark a red van, just how it's marketed. A red van DOES NOT automatically make it a Royal Mail van or even an EX RM van. Take a look next time you are out, you will see plenty of plumbers etc using identical MAKE and colour of vehicle.

A red van is just that, a red van and that's all the OP saw. From what I read the courier was not even seen in the van or driving off in it.

If he was there is a case for using a red van being wrong as they are in the same line of business.

Tyler Smith makes it clear that the courier was using a red van like a Royal Mail van but without the Royal Mail markings.
Royal Mail Group Ltd would not have taken the trouble to register the colour red as a trade mark if they didn't intend having the rights for it over all things concerning mail and parcel delivery.
Plenty of plumbers etc can of course use such red vans as of the 45 trade mark classes they're not in the same one as Royal Mail.