Strange parcels happening? You can be part of a ‘brushing’ ecommerce scam

Have you ever wondered how some terrible products listed on online shopping sites are getting great reviews? It can be “brushing”: a scam that uses your personal details to leave reviews for things you never bought to do so for others.

What is the “brush” scam?

This is Mail Day, and the postman leaves a pile of parcel at your door … and something extra. You did not order anything. This is a cheap widget that has no additional details or invoices, so you close it and walk with your life.

Chances are you just part of a “brush” scam.

A brushing scam occurs when a seller buys his product from online e-commerce platforms such as Amazon or eBay using his name and delivery address. Once the purchase and delivery records, they can leave a bright review using your details that looks 100% valid. The seller may not even send you the actual product that they will give up a review (especially if it is expensive). Whatever junk you just get, it was within access to see the padded envelope, so it has not been rejected at the post office.

This may look like a very effort for a single review, but its prevalence means it should work. If the scam’s creator is launching a new product, it can make it popular, and try to increase its properties in reviews and attract and draw real customers. If they are less respectable, they are selling cheap tackie items with misleading listings that they want to lend validity to use your name.

So, in a sense, you are not real victims in this scam (people who actually pay for the product based on “your” review). You are only a tool that is used by scammer to “brush” their reviews.

Brushing scam is a sign that your personal information has been compromised

While the brushing scam can be done using stolen credibility for your online shopping accounts (you can quickly check if it is a matter of monitoring your purchase history), it is usually unnecessary from the scammer. It is very easy for them to create a new account using their personal details that have been leaked online earlier.

This could have happened at any time, years ago. Databases of people’s personal information are available for sale online, and a valid name and address all need to pull a successful brushing scam. You cannot do anything about this. Once your details get out of there, they get out of there.

What to do if you think your information is being used to scam others

You should already be day-to-day cyber security and privacy after the best practices, but getting unwanted parcels is a good excuse and a good excuse to tighten your safety a little: Update your old password, check for suspicious activity on your accounts, and wherever it is supported, competent the multi-conservative authentication.

It is difficult to reject anonymous parcel, as more and more business is done online. It is difficult to know if you are being assigned a parcel, something that you actually ordered, and the postman is not going to wait at the door, when you try and find it, especially if your morning coffee is still to kick. For fake reviews, you can try to make them online and report them to discourage your address, but this is no guarantee, but it is no guarantee.

Returning the parcel is also usually out of question. Talking with scammers is a good way to focus on you, which you do not want definitely. If the parcel was addressed to you, and the law allows it, you can also catch on the item, and if no one comes to ask for it after a while, take ownership or throw it out.

Just be aware that whatever you receive is probably the cheapest object within the access of the scammer that they can jam in a padded envelope. If this is something that can cause any danger (such as electrical items), or food or cosmetics that may be fake, or something that can cause potential health or safety risk, then you probably should send it directly to the landfill.

What to do if you didn’t find what you have ordered

If you suspect that you are a victim of brushing, something has been ordered to do something that does not meet the expectations of determining its reviews, you should try and return it. When shopping, see out for fake reviews and signs of fake AI-products. Amazon will warns you if an item is often returned.

There are complete categories of products that you should be careful to buy online from high risks of scams and physical damage from defective products.

How to keep your personal data safe, and what to do when it essentially leaked

Privacy is a low resource for everyone, everywhere: or not, your details are out of there. Every time you shop, you are giving your details to the seller, and their employees who handle the order and pack your items will have access to them. Your contact details are present in the countless database that may leaked on any point (from social media, governments, your hairdressors and other organizations), and even if you find out who has leaked it, the loss has already occurred.

None of this is anxious – it is unavoidable. You can try and maintain good digital hygiene to reduce the amount of new information, which can be leaked, and unpredictable fee for your accounts, or alert to activity on your social media.