Police Warn Against Sharing Delivery Details After iPhone Theft

Police in Shiyan, in central China's Hubei Province, have warned people against posting sensitive information such as delivery tracking numbers online after a woman's social media post enabled thieves to collect her new iPhone and send it toward another province.

The new iPhone 18 Pro, worth 11,999 yuan (US$1,793), was recovered after officers traced a relay involving five errand riders and intercepted the parcel at a transfer station in Wuhan, according to local police. It was returned to its owner on October 7.

The woman, surnamed Wang, had shared a screenshot of her order on social media while looking forward to receiving the phone. The image exposed both her order number and the parcel's tracking number.

On October 6, the phone arrived at a logistics park in Shiyan, where it had yet to be sorted for delivery to a local collection point. Someone remotely booked an errand rider to collect it using the tracking number, police said.

A courier called Wang to check the collection arrangement, but she had been sleeping and ended the call after a brief response without asking for details. The courier took this as consent and handed over the phone without strictly verifying the collector's identity.

Wang discovered around midday that the shopping platform listed the parcel as delivered and contacted the courier. After checking the delivery record and finding something wrong, the courier alerted the police.

Police found that five local errand riders had been booked online to move the package in stages. The riders did not meet or communicate with one another, instead leaving it at locations including hotel reception desks as instructed.

The package eventually reached a courier outlet on Dongfeng Avenue and was dispatched to Kaifeng in Henan Province.

Officers checked surveillance footage and questioned the riders to reconstruct its route. By 4am, they had identified the new tracking number. The parcel had already left Shiyan and was awaiting transfer at Wuhan's Wujiashan station.

Police contacted the delivery company, which intercepted it overnight. The phone arrived back in Shiyan at midday on October 7, and officers collected it from the courier outlet and handed it to Wang.