ID theft suspect accidentally ships iPhone 5s to victim's address

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- A Simi Valley man says an iPhone 5s was charged to his credit card and accidentally shipped to his house by a hacker.

The Simi Valley Police Department is aware of the crime. In fact, they have two detectives who focus on arresting white-collar criminals and credit card fraud suspects. Whoever is responsible for buying the iPhone 5s has made the case a lot easier, according to police.

To say Brett Smrz wasn't expecting a package at his front door wouldn't be entirely accurate. He said he knew something wasn't right when he checked his online banking account.

"The whole price ended up being about $1,000 worth of stuff that this guy had bought," Smrz said.

When an iPhone 5s was delivered inside a small brown box, he says, it all made a bit more sense.

Smrz believes the person behind the fraudulent purchase was a little sloppy, sending the new smartphone to the wrong address.

"I was just laughing, you know, someone orders something with my credit card, and they're hoping to get it to their doorstep, and it just showed up to mine," Smrz said.

Simi Valley Police Department Cmdr. David Livingstone said the suspect made their case a lot easier.

Although it's still under investigation, the order form inside the brown box had the suspect's home, 77 miles away in Westminster, listed as the address where the purchase was made. That was a strong lead for Simi Valley police.

"In a lot of cases, this isn't the first time they've done this, and when we uncover one, often times, we find several other cases of identity theft or credit card fraud that this person is involved in," Livingstone said.

"It would be nice if he got a day in jail to scare him a little bit, not do it again, but I don't want to ruin his life over it," Smrz said.

He says he understands people may encounter tough financial times, but tells Eyewitness News that's no excuse.

"If you really want something you've got to save up for it and do it that way, stealing from someone is not the way to do it," Smrz said.

He plans on shipping the iPhone 5s back to Apple. Within a day, his credit card company refunded him for the purchases.