Pause before giving your address or agreeing to receive, repackage and forward goods for an online contact. The FTC documents this mechanism in reshipping job scams, including goods bought with stolen cards. Applying that warning to a request framed as a romantic favor is DateClues’ editorial guidance; it is not a claim that every parcel from a partner is fraudulent.
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Identify what the favor would require
Write down the requested action: receive goods, remove original materials, attach a new label, forward them and perhaps wait for reimbursement. The FTC describes this sequence in reshipping scams advertised as work. A request presented as helping a partner still deserves scrutiny if it would make your home a transit point for someone else’s purchases. [FTC: Job scams and reshipping requests]
Separate an ordinary gift from an onward-shipping arrangement
Our comparison focuses on the job you are being asked to perform, rather than the value of the item or how convincing a profile looks. Do not open new accounts, provide identity documents or give an unknown contact access to your address book to make the arrangement work.
| Situation | Question to resolve | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| A gift intended for you | Who ordered it and why? | Do not infer a debt or forwarding obligation |
| Repeated parcels for other recipients | Why is your address the transit point? | Decline the arrangement |
| Instructions to discard receipts | What record would be lost? | Preserve existing records |
| A promise to pay after shipment | What requires your action first? | Do not spend or forward based on a promise |
A short refusal is enough
One editorial script is: “I cannot receive or forward purchases on your behalf. Please arrange delivery directly with the retailer.” You need not solve the sender’s work, travel or customs story. Avoid offering a friend’s address as an alternative: that transfers the same uncertainty to another person.
If packages or personal details are already involved
Keep the messages, shipping labels and purchase references you already have. Contact the carrier or retailer through its independently known official channels to ask how to handle the situation; do not simply forward goods to a new address supplied in chat. If you supplied personal details for a supposed job, the FTC notes possible identity-theft concerns and links to its recovery resources. [FTC: Job scams and reshipping requests]
Do not make a public-profile search the authorization step
A username or image match can add context about public pages; it cannot establish who paid for goods, whether a card was authorized or who owns a parcel. TraceSeek is not a shipping or transaction verification service. Stop at the action you control: decline the forwarding role and use the relevant provider’s process for anything already received.
A couple more questions
Does this mean every gift from an online partner is a scam?
No. This guide concerns an arrangement where you receive and forward goods for others, especially with repackaging or discarded-record instructions.
Should I forward a parcel just to end contact?
Do not follow a new forwarding instruction simply to resolve the pressure. Preserve the details and ask the relevant carrier or retailer through official channels.
Sources & editorial notes
Official references checked on October 23, 2026. Checklists, comparison tables and example wording are DateClues editorial tools, not official tests or validated risk scores.
General information. No guide or tool can certify a person’s identity, intentions or safety. Read our editorial standards.