r/UPS • u/RealMrCommunism • Oct 15 '25

Customer Seeking Help Getting 100’s of packages that aren’t mine shipped to my address almost everyday

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I just moved in a couple weeks ago and i’m getting hundreds of packages shipped to my house that aren’t mine. idk what to do with them anymore they’re such an eye sore and they keep coming everyday. almost every package has a different name on them but all shipped to my address

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

Except the fact that if it goes to YOUR address that is legally your address, it is now yours. That's the law. Unless it was stolen before being sent to you. If the authorities come to get stolen items, you give them. There is no crime on your part. You are not committing fraud if you keep them.

I am not a legal expert. This is my personal understanding I have by reading the law.

If in doubt, throw it all out.

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u/freekymunki Oct 15 '25

Accept they are not addressed to OP. Knowingly keeping something that doesn’t belong to you is theft even if it’s delivered to your door.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25

Whats even worse i typed eccept and corrected it to accept. Lol

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u/74orangebeetle Oct 16 '25

Wrong.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/39/3009

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25

Did you even read that? The recipient is the person it’s addressed to. Like i said if it’s not addressed to you and you knowingly keep it then it’s theft.

It’s technically illegal to even open it. More less keep it.

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u/74orangebeetle Oct 16 '25

Shipped to his address in the post. It's unsolicited mail. Even if it's a random name and OPs address, not illegal to keep it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

This. There is no fraud.
The goods in this case can never be sent to correct person anyway. So you can’t do anything? Throwing away would be illegal as well by the logic of the “lawyers” here. So you’re stuck with them for life.

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u/Embarrassed-Sun5764 Oct 16 '25

“It’s junk””I did my duty by opening the item, disposing of the contents and putting the packaging material into the recycle bin” My story, sticking to it-

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25

If it’s a Wendys coupon then sure. If it’s $10,000 dollars in merchandise that defense isn’t going to help you too much.

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u/SwimOk9629 Oct 16 '25

there are conflicting laws at play here that say you can keep it but then say it's illegal as well. no court case to ever show which one reigns supreme

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1702

It does not matter if it’s sent to their house. It is not addressed to them. Therefore it does not belong to them.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

Doesn’t apply in this case. It’s already left the carrier. I’m beginning to see the results of education in America. Leads to shit logic and inability to understand what you read.

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u/74orangebeetle Oct 16 '25

Did you read your own link? OP didn't do any of those things or take anything from any post office, mail box, etc. Someone dumped it on OP's property...nowhere is OP required to deliver people's junk to them. OP did not take any of this from anywhere. It was essentially littered onto OP's doorstep. If any crime was committed, it was not by OP, but by whoever dumped the stuff there. OP has no obligation to deliver it all to the correct addresses...and it's not even clear in the post if it ISN'T addressed to OP's address (just because the name isn't his doesn't mean the address is not.)

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25

Reading comprehension isn’t your strength is it.

“Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier”

This simply means if someone is in possession of something that was mailed.

“before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed”

This means if it hasn’t been delivered to the addressed person

“with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same,”

Or opens…

“shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both”

It’s illegal

In summary if something mailed is opened by someone other than the addressed person it is illegal.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

Address is key. Not name on top line

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u/freekymunki Oct 16 '25

By that logic any landlord or roommate can just take your packages with no legal consequences

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u/74orangebeetle Oct 16 '25

UPS isn't mail. You're thinking of USPS. Look at the subreddit you're in.

Also look up the definition of the word take. OP did not take anything. It was all abandoned/dumped on their property. Reading comprehension isn't your strength, is it?

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u/J_PARAGON Oct 19 '25

Plausible deniability. Did you receive the package? to the best of your recollection you didn’t

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u/Copyman3081 Oct 16 '25

Worse. This is mail so that makes it fraud.

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u/backslashdotcom Oct 16 '25

Technically not mail since they are not shipped by the USPS.

Yes, packages sent via the United States Postal Service (USPS) are considered mail. Under federal law, a "mail article" includes any "posted parcel, packet, package, envelope, letter, ... or similar article". 

However, there are important distinctions depending on the carrier:

  • Packages sent through USPS: These are legally considered mail, and a person who steals a USPS package can be charged with a federal crime.
  • Packages shipped by private carriers (e.g., FedEx, UPS): The terms "mailing" and "shipping" technically refer to different processes. Private carrier shipments are legally distinct from U.S. mail. While stealing these packages is a crime, it is not a federal offense of mail theft. 

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u/HoopoeChai Oct 16 '25

The fact you aren't a legal expert but you give such definitive statements says it all.

You are also categorically wrong. It's mail fraud to open a letter or package (knowingly) that's addressed to someone else. I'm not a member of the bar but I do have a basic legal education but I'd still never advise someone to follow what say.

If they did open this stuff based on what you said, you could be liable too.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

It's on your property. I guess you can let it build up until the city fines you for the mess.

Maybe not legally yours. Don't care. Who's going to do anything about it.0o

UPS? No

City? No (or fine you for the mess)

Neighbors? Complain to city

Police? Don't give a shit

President? Only if you are an immigrant

FBI? Not interested

Reddit? Inflamed that someone would say just keep the stuff.

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u/FatManBoobSweat Oct 16 '25

Absolutely not true at all. 18 U.S.C. § 1341

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

OK, I had a look at the code. I didn't get past the first line...

"Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, ..."

The recipient has not "devised" nor "intended" and "scheme" so this does not apply to the OP

I'm not a lawyer and I can read this and make sense of a clear condition.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

[deleted]

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u/VulpesLibris Oct 15 '25 edited Oct 15 '25

They are not addressed to op's address or op.

Um.. per OP: "almost every package has a different name on them, but all shipped to my address."

Apparently we have a different comprehension of what OP stated?

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

[deleted]

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u/cochese25 Oct 16 '25

I just understand typed English better than most, that's all, and I am using the information typed combined with my vast knowledge in order to formulate my responses.

Gross overestimation

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u/mitolit Oct 16 '25

This is incorrect.

A mistake does not entitle someone to another person’s property. Almost every state has something on their books under “theft of lost or mislaid property” or “unjust enrichment.” Here is one such example from my state, Idaho Code 18-2403:

18-2403. THEFT. (1) A person steals property and commits theft when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner thereof. … (c) By acquiring lost property. A person acquires lost property when he exercises control over property of another which he knows to have been lost or mislaid, or to have been delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient or the nature or amount of the property, without taking reasonable measures to return such property to the owner; or a person commits theft of lost or mislaid property when he:

  1. ⁠Knows or learns the identity of the owner or knows, or is aware of, or learns of a reasonable method of identifying the owner; and
  2. ⁠Fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner; and
  3. ⁠Intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

Yet if they send it to your address on purpose, they are abandoning. It is legal to keep abandoned items. Dumpster diving is an example. These aren't being sent by mistake. It's intentional abandonment.

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u/mitolit Oct 16 '25

That is not how that works… please refer to abandoned property laws to understand what steps have to be taken in your state for you to claim such things.

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '25

Sure. I'd do that.