Scam?

What do you think?

About a year ago, Moomie received a yummy present from someone who loves her. Just recently, she got a letter from some man who says he works for a shipping company claiming that she owes money for shipping because the company that makes the yummy present hasn't paid them. Here's the thing, she looked up the address the man gave to send her $28 to and there's no way to know if it's a legitimate business address or just some guy's house. The phone number in the letter apparently doesn't come back with any information when she does a reverse search. It seems fishy to us...

The letter claims that, as the "consignee," she is as responsible for shipping costs as the company that makes the yummy present, but she didn't order or pay for the original order. It was just delivered to her. And I'm pretty sure the person who ordered it already paid for shipping when he placed the order so he shouldn't have to pay again either.

Does anyone know if the shipping company, if it's really them, can legally require customers to pay debts owed by the retailer?

I suggested that she contact the yummy present company and also the person who ordered the present and make sure they know what is going on. If it is a scam, the yummy present company is going to want to put a stop to it. If it's legitimate, I would hope that company is going to want to pay their bills so they can avoid losing customers.

What do you think? Is it a scam? Have you ever heard of something like this?

Oh, and also, the shipping company doesn't have a website at all or even a yellow pages listing in the city the man's address is in.