Couple’s experience highlights growing brushing scam targeting consumers nationwide

(Aging Untold) — An Arizona couple’s experience with dozens of unwanted packages illustrates a growing fraud scheme that targets consumers across the country.

Jeffrey Marshall and his wife, Judy, of Scottsdale, began receiving packages they didn’t order that contained random items including an oven shelf pad, dog nail clippers, a candle lamp, curtains, a lighted makeup mirror and an ice cream scoop.

“There was no rhyme or reason to anything,” Jeffrey Marshall said.

The packages all arrived at their address but bore someone else’s name. When the couple investigated, they discovered the names were fake.

How the brushing scam works

The deliveries are part of what’s known as a “brushing scam.”

Online sellers send products to random addresses to create tracking numbers that make their fake reviews appear legitimate.

“Best case scenario, it’s just your address, just your name and address. You get something free, and you are an unwitting accomplice in someone’s online fraud,” Travis Taylor, a consumer advocate, said. “Worst case scenario, it means that at least one of your accounts, if not multiple, and possibly your payment information has been compromised.”

Taylor recommends victims check their bank and credit statements for strange charges and change their passwords as a precaution.

Amazon prohibits third-party sellers from sending unsolicited packages.

The company said that if policy is violated, it may withhold payments, suspend selling privileges and alert law enforcement.

The Federal Trade Commission said recipients of unsolicited packages can keep them, throw them out or donate them to charity. The agency recommends reporting the deliveries so possible patterns can be identified.

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