Many people may be receiving packages from Amazon at home that they did not order; although this seems to be good news, experts point out that it may be a new scam variant known as “brushing“, which already accounts for hundreds of victims around the world.
Here’s the trick: A person receives a package from Amazon that they didn’t order; there is no information about the sender or forwarding address, except that of Amazon. In registered brushing cases, victims have received all kinds of items, such as Bluetooth speakers, heaters, flashlights, vacuum cleaners, among others.
Generally, the companies that ship these products are sellers in producing countries that want to increase their profits. These companies use the information of users of the sales platform to publish a false review in which they increase the rating of their products, which would eventually represent an increase in their sales.
For many users this might seem harmless, although the fact that these companies may send packages to certain users indicates that they have access to their personal information (names, addresses, telephone numbers), which is a serious privacy problem, as it would imply that many other companies (and threat actors) have access to this data.
Although very little known, this scam could grow unusually in the coming months, so you need to know how to act. In the face of such a situation, specialists recommend:
- Notify Amazon: For obvious reasons, this practice runs counter to the company’s practices, so users can contact Customer Service if this happens to them. After investigating, Amazon could expel the seller from its platform
- Reset login credentials: Brushing victims may have been compromised by their Amazon login credentials. To prevent further incidents, reset your password to access the sales platform
- Know the legislation of your country: It is recommended that e-commerce users know the laws that protect them when making online purchases in their respective countries to prevent companies from incurring this kind of practice
Finally, experts remind users that it is not necessary to return the products received as part of a brushing campaign, although if the user wishes, they can refuse the shipment at the time of receipt.
He is a cyber security and malware researcher. He studied Computer Science and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2006. He is actively working as an cyber security investigator. He also worked for different security companies. His everyday job includes researching about new cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in enterprise security implementation.