NEW YORK (CNN): Most people who buy things online only have to worry about shipments being delayed or never arriving. But there are people who have a different problem – getting weird things like haircuts, face creams, and sunglasses that they haven’t even asked for.
The Federal Trade Commission and cybernetics experts have been warning consumers about these shipments, which may be part of something known as “brushing” scams.
Here’s how these scams work: Third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay, and other online markets pay people to write fake, positive reviews about their products, or do it themselves. In order to post reviews, these so-called “brushers” must trick the site into making it appear that a legitimate transaction has occurred. Thus, they will use a fake account to place gift orders and direct them to a random person whose name and address they find online. Then, instead of mailing the article for which they want to publish a review, brushmakers will send a cheap and often lightweight article that costs less to send.
Submitting an article (even incorrect one) creates a tracking number and, when the package is delivered, allows scrapers to write a verified review. If you are about to receive, you will not normally be charged for the purchase and your real account will not be hacked, but you will be left in the dark about who repeatedly sends the mysterious packages. In many cases, there is no return address. You don’t need to worry about something bad happening to you or happening to you if you get a package that could be part of a brushing scam, experts say. But we all need to worry about scams that affect the reviews we count on when buying products.
Garbage scams reportedly skyrocketed in e-commerce sites in China about five years ago. They resurfaced in the headlines last summer, when all 50 states issued warnings about mysterious and unsolicited seed packages that people across the nation received in the mail.
But it’s not just then. Suspicious recipients have also found boxes with products ranging from dog spoons to power cords to soap dispensers on their doors.
Jen Blinn of Thousand Oaks, California, told CNN Business she had been receiving random packages since June, which recently included a briefcase, a backpack, a hair straightener and a coffee cup warmer.
“Every two weeks … I get a package in the mail of random things I’ve never ordered,” he said. Blinn reported the problem to Amazon, but a customer service agent “didn’t really understand what he was saying. He obviously didn’t know it,” he said. The agent looked at Blinn’s account and found nothing wrong.
It is not illegal to send goods without ordering to customers. But the [Federal Trade Commission] he has long been pursuing marketers who use fake reviews, ”said David Vladeck, former director of the FTC’s Office of Consumer Protection and a law professor at Georgetown University.
Amazon says its policy prohibits sellers from sending unsolicited merchandise to customers and that it can be removed from the site to do so.
“Third-party vendors are prohibited from sending unsolicited packages to customers, and we take action against those who violate our policies, including withholding payments, suspending or removing sales privileges, or collaborating with forces. of the order, ”an Amazon spokesman said in an email. Amazon would not say how many brushing scams have been found on the site or how many sellers have been removed due to these scams.
An eBay spokesman said in an email that brushing schemes “do not appear to be very prevalent” on the site. It violates eBay’s policy of sending unsolicited merchandise to customers or falsifying reviews, and may cause eBay to restrict sellers’ accounts or suspend them from the site.
Experts also say it is difficult to quantify the frequency of these scams because it can be difficult for companies to know if the reviews are fake and the scams are often not reported by consumers.
The fact that you have a package that you did not order is usually harmless to you. The damage is for people who rely on reviews when deciding on a purchase, said Chris McCabe, a former Amazon police investigator tasked with stopping scams and fraud. He is now a site sales consultant.
The real losers here are consumers who possibly believe many of these false positive reviews, or this artificial stuffing of reviews, because they could see 100 positive reviews, and there can only be 60 or 70 that are legitimate.
–Chris McCabe
“The real losers here are consumers who possibly believe a lot of these false positive reviews, or this artificial stuffing of reviews, because they could see 100 positive reviews, and there can only be 60 or 70 that are legitimate.” He said.
The probability of a consumer buying a product that has five reviews is 270% higher than the probability of buying a product with zero reviews, according to a 2017 report from Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center.
Some fake feedback is also being driven by Facebook groups, where sellers offer money to buyers if they write positive product reviews, McCabe said. Amazon and Facebook should work together to repress these groups, he said.
An Amazon spokesman said the company scans more than 10 million reviews each week to try to prevent false posts and provides details of its investigations to social media companies “so they can prevent these bad actors from abusing their platforms “.
A Facebook spokesman said in an email that when the company is informed of groups that may encourage fake reviews, it reviews them and removes them if they violate its policies.
Unwanted sheets and Shiatsu massages
For consumers, unexpected deliveries can be discordant. The packages Ashanté Nicole never ordered began arriving at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2019.
IPhone and laptop chargers. An iPad case. A heated shiatsu massage. A nail brush and a hair dryer. Sheets. A mattress cover. A floppy fish toy.
They had no return addresses, so Nicole wasn’t sure who was sending the packages. He came to Amazon to try to keep them from coming, but they keep coming to his door.
“It was a little worrying because I don’t know who has my information,” he said. “I don’t know what they will send me. Just like they could send something illegal and then I have problems because I didn’t know who that person was or what they were sending me.”
If you get merchandise you didn’t order, it could mean scammers have created an account in your name or seized your account, an FTC spokesman said in an email. Scammers may have created new accounts under other names linked to your address, allowing them to post many seemingly real reviews.
“We recommend that you pay attention to your online shopping accounts. If you detect an activity that is not yours, report it immediately to the site and consider changing your site’s password,” the spokesman said.
Nicole feels she has done everything she can to alert Amazon every time unsolicited packages from the retailer arrive at her home.
“Literally, I can’t do anything but tell Amazon every time it happens. And that hasn’t done much,” he said.
Amazon declined to comment directly on Nicole and Blinn’s accounts, but said if a customer receives an unsolicited package, they should contact Amazon’s customer support team. .
Nicole said she hopes Amazon does more to stop brushing and banning sellers from participating in scams.
“I just think they have to worry a little bit more about closing these stores and making sure these vendors can’t use the platform.”
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