1/15/2024 0 Comments Ups suspicious packageThe seller pays a third party to purchase their products through fake buyer accounts they’ve created.Īfter the purchase, the item gets delivered to a real address. Then the seller can write a positive review of their own product from the fake Amazon buyer account. Reviews are hugely important to any seller on Amazon. The more reviews a particular product has and the better the reviews are, the higher the product will rank in Amazon’s algorithm. That means more exposure for that product which potentially leads to more sales. In addition, sellers who engage in brushing scams sometimes write what are called “ verified purchase reviews.” Anyone with an Amazon account can write a review for any product, but verified purchase reviews rank higher in the algorithm. And Amazon gives reviews that label only if it confirms that the product was bought at full price from the reviewer’s account. The Dangers of Amazon BrushingĬNN Business reports brushing scams became popular in the mid-2010s. There have been many examples of brushing made public since then.Ī woman in Thousand Oaks, California, received unordered Amazon packages every two weeks for more than six months. The packages contained items ranging from a briefcase to a hair straightener to a coffee cup warmer. In Massachusetts, CBS News reported a couple received 1-2 packages every week for five months. The unsolicited Amazon packages contained items including a humidifier, a flashlight, Bluetooth speakers and a computer vacuum cleaner.īy law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep, according to the United States Postal Inspection Service. So you don’t have to return any package you receive, and if you don’t want it, you can donate it to a good cause.īut Amazon brushing is still a threat to you and other consumers. Receiving unordered packages from Amazon means your information has been compromised. A third-party seller somehow acquired your name, shipping address and possibly your Amazon account information.Īmazon provides a help page for victims of brushing scams. We also reached out to the company’s press center and received a statement from an Amazon spokesperson via email. Fake Amazon Reviews Inflate Product Ratings It said, in part, “… we take action on those who violate our policies, including withholding payments, suspending or removing selling privileges, or working with law enforcement.”Īmazon says it will investigate and “will take action on bad actors that violate” its policies. Online purchasers rely on reviews to make shopping choices. Report the unordered package to Amazon customer service at (888) 280-4331.If you have received an unsolicited Amazon package and have confirmed no one you know sent you a gift, here’s what you can do to protect yourself and future potential victims: What To Do if You Get Something From Amazon You Didn’t Order “The real losers here are the consumers who are possibly believing many of these fake positive reviews, or this artificial padding of reviews because they might see 100 positive reviews, and then there may only be 60 or 70 of them that are legitimate,” former Amazon policy enforcement investigator Chris McCabe told CNN. Keep a close eye on your credit card statements to spot suspicious activity.Change the password on your Amazon account and any other accounts that have the same password.Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission online or by phone at (877) 382-4357. Whatever you do, do not pay for an unsolicited package.The initial intelligence report from Saudi intelligence said there could be as many as 15 bomb packages being sent from Yemen to the U.S. None have yet been discovered in the U.S. The initial report came late Thursday night and involved two separate packages shipped from Sanaa, Yemen to Chicago, according to law enforcement officials. The package intercepted in Dubai was shipped via FedEx, the one stopped in the U.K. Officials said both packages were stopped midway on their trip to Chicago, one at the East Midlands cargo airfield outside London and the other at the airport in Dubai.
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