The Better Business Bureau warns of 'brushing' scam: Packages from Amazon, other, and can I find out who sent me a package?
The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be on the lookout for a scam in the U.S. that involves an unknown sender shipping boxes of unordered merchandise from online retailers.
Have you ever seen boxes of stuff on your porch that you didn't order?A scam in the U.S. could cause trouble for victims.
The scam involves unknown senders shipping boxes of unordered merchandise from Amazon and other retailers.The receiver doesn't know who ordered the items because the boxes have no return address.
According to the Better Business Bureau, the companies are usually foreign, third-party sellers that send the items using the address they found on the website.They want to make it appear as though the recipient wrote a positive online review of the merchandise and that they are a verified buyer.
The companies will post a fake positive review to improve their own ratings.
The fact that the companies were able to send the items could indicate that they hold personal information of the recipient, such as name, address and possibly phone number.It is possible to use sensitive personal information on the internet for fraudulent purposes.