Somebody mailed you a box you never ordered. They may be using your name. The short answer: you don't owe a cent, you don't have to send it back, and it's yours. Federal law says unordered merchandise is a gift. Keep it, use it, or toss it. Your call. But that free box can be a scam wearing your name, and one kind may have to go back. Step one: check your own order history first, then ask everyone you live with.

Maybe a roommate clicked buy, or it's a gift. An honest mix-up is a different story. Step two: if there's a note with a QR code in the box, do not scan it. Step three: change the passwords on your online shopping accounts, because someone has your name and address. Step four: came through Amazon or another marketplace? Report it to the platform so it can investigate the seller. Step five: pull your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and watch for signs of identity theft.

Step six: a bill shows up later? Don't pay it. Ask them to show when you supposedly agreed to buy. Step seven: report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. They use reports to act against patterns of deception. Here's the instinct: they sent it, so now you have to pay for it or mail it back. Flat wrong. Unordered merchandise is legally a gift, and the sender can't even bill you or send collection notices.

Myth two: scan the QR code to see who sent it, or to start a return. That code may lead to a phishing site built to steal your card numbers, usernames and passwords. So why would a stranger pay to ship you stuff? It's called brushing, and you're the alibi. A seller ships something cheap to a real person: baby wipes, toothpaste, a packet of seeds. Your delivery becomes their validation. Then fake reviews go up in your name to boost their sales.

The box might look like it's from Amazon, or from a sender you've never heard of. And here's the part nobody tells you: the FTC says it can also mean someone's after your personal information. Now the catch I promised: what if it's clearly a neighbor's order, left at your door by mistake? That's a shipping error. You may need to return it, and Georgia says the company covers postage or pickup. A charity mails address labels and asks for money?

You don't have to donate or send them back. Same company keeps shipping and billing? Send a certified letter with a return receipt telling them to stop. And seeds or toothpaste you'd actually use? The FTC says be cautious. You don't know where they came from. Keep it if you want. Pay nothing. Scan nothing. Change your passwords and watch your credit. Then report it, to the platform and to the FTC, and let them chase the seller.

The box was free. The fake review with your name on it is the real product.