Josh Layton
Published November 26, 2025 12:04pm
Updated November 26, 2025 12:04pm
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A man acting suspiciously has been sighted on multiple occasions in a road where an attempted credit card fraud involving mail interception has taken place (Picture: Josh Layton)
After a merry-go-round of trying to report a fraud using my stolen identity to different agencies, only one option was left.
I wait until a suspicious individual repeatedly seen hanging around my housing block’s external post boxes enters the road.
After I spring out to challenge him, he reacts by holding his phone at head height as if to film me, which obscures his face, and walks away.
‘You’ve been acting suspiciously around here!’ I shout after him.
The 6ft, well-built man casually turns into a junction. And vanishes.
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I dial 999, only to be told there is no crime to investigate but to send footage through to a generic email account.
With no police or Action Fraud intervention as the level of scams nationally reaches epidemic proportions, I’ve been reduced to carrying out surveillance on my own home.
I discovered I was being defrauded a week earlier when I arrived back from a few days in London to find a bin liner inexplicably stuffed inside my external, wall-mounted mailbox.
Even at the end of a whirlwind week, I thought it bizarre, and couldn’t quite settle on a logical explanation.
The man walked away when challenged in a street where mail is believed to have been stolen and used for credit card fraud (Picture: Josh Layton)
Credit card with £7,500 limit
The following day, two letters arrived in my name with banking codes for a £7,500-limit Santander credit card I’d never applied for.
I called the Spanish bank, who said it would be blocked and the matter investigated by its fraud team, without going into detail.
In subsequent conversations I understand from talking to the call handlers that ‘application frauds’ are reported on a daily basis.
I then turn to the police and Action Fraud, only to essentially be told: ‘No crime or financial loss here so we won’t actively investigate.’
Although all three entities have provided practical advice, the fact there has (so far) not been any loss despite the theft of my personal data means there is no statutory pursuit of the suspicious individual.
He is free to roam my neighbourhood in broad daylight.
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My first encounter with the man came on Saturday, when I passed him walking into the road, located in a quiet corner of Warwickshire.
He was on foot, with no car anywhere nearby, wearing a hoodie and casual gear, and headed straight to my apartment block.
Something wasn’t right, so I ran back. I found him poised to one side of the mailboxes, phone in hand, grinning back at me.
Having removed his hood to show a bald head and thick facial stubble, he shouted in broken English: ‘Why you running after me, I’m no thief!?’
At that point I was around 25 metres away.
On that occasion, I backed off, only to return 40 minutes later to find bin liners had again been stuffed into my mailbox, a trick used by fraudsters to make it easy to retrieve mail that lies at the top.
Two minutes before he arrived, it had been empty.
A credit card was provided by Santander in a fraud using identity theft (Picture: Josh Layton)
Mail interception scam
Becoming a DIY investigator, I’ve learnt from neighbours that the same individual has been seen acting suspiciously in the street over a course of a week or so. One has not had any mail for two weeks.
Posts on a neighbourhood Facebook group suggest I’m not the only victim of a relatively unsophisticated scam.
Fraudsters put a plastic bag or bin liner into external post boxes, allowing them to thief to quickly fish out personal mail, which can then be used to apply for financial products. Then, the culprit returns at delivery time and whisks the codes and plastic away.
One comment suggests there was a spate nearby, and arrests were made after residents, posties and police worked together.
However, I am still waiting for Action Fraud or the police to take an active interest in my case — one which may affect others locally.
The attempts to report the scam are part of a mountain of admin.
Paying fraud prevention body CIFAS so extra checks are carried out when my identity is used for financial products, a credit check, another report to Royal Mail who I’ve not heard back from yet, conversations with neighbours, approaching Citizens Advice and more.
What to do if you've been defrauded
The Home Office’s Stop! Think Fraud campaign has a checklist for identity theft victims here.
As Black Friday and the festive shopping season approach, the Home Office and Evri are urging the public to check the advice in light of delivery fraud hitting record levels.
Anyone impacted by fraud can also contact CIFAS, which describes itself as the ‘UK’s fraud prevention community’ and can help protect people at risk of scams.
I’ve also taken other security precautions which I won’t divulge here.
Chief Superintendent Amanda Wolf, head of Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, said: ‘Action Fraud can confirm that it received [reference number] on November 21, 2025.
‘It has been recorded on our system as an information report.
‘An information report can be made when a fraud has not been committed or there is suspicion of criminal intent.
‘An information report is also made if somebody is reporting a fraud on behalf of a victim, or if a person is the victim of identity theft.’
The man walked off when challenged without giving any explanation as to his suspicious behaviour in a Warwickshire street (Picture: Josh Layton)
A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police confirmed that although the matter had been reported, it is not being investigated.
The representative said: ‘An incident of potential fraud was reported to us and we advised the matter should be for Action Fraud to respond.’
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The saga is a pinprick in the vast prism of national fraud, with an estimated 4.2 million incidents up to March, according to official figures.
The number represents a 31% increase on the previous year.
In my case, I have CCTV footage, sightings from neighbours, a brand new credit card in my name and repeated visits from a suspicious individual.
Yet I’m left to play a waiting game
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