Freebies from Amazon ('Brushing' scam)

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

Associate
Joined
7 Jun 2005
Posts
2,428
Location
North East
So this started maybe 10 months ago. One day an Amazon package arrived, I wasn't expecting anything and to my surprise when I opened said package it was a children's wooden jigsaw. Authentic Amazon packaging and labelling, but no despatch note and no record on my account or payments taken.

Apparently it's quite a common scam called Brushing (https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/)

I'm just keen to hear who else has a similar situation? Comically my freebies seem to be getting better as time goes on:
  • 20x pairs of black socks
  • 10x pairs of sports socks
  • 1x rock climbing trousers
  • 10x pairs of sports socks
  • 200x plastic pieces of cutlery
  • 1x Ladies epilator
  • 5x Apple iphone cases
  • 4x Apple mains chargers
  • 1x Bluetooth speaker
  • 1x Wireless headphones
Its an annoyance, but also a little bit of comedy having a mysterious package arrive and see what delights are within. Clearly I'm concerned my name and address have somehow found their way to Asian scammers, but meh. It's public domain information anyway.
 

builder22

builder22

builder22

Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2005
Posts
5,007
do you order lots of stuff from Amazon?...a family member had a coffee mug arrive once unexpectedly but she orders prob on average one thing every day
 

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

Associate
OP
Joined
7 Jun 2005
Posts
2,428
Location
North East
PiKe said:
The person who ordered it with the OPs delivery address is then able to leave a glowing review for their own product.
Click to expand...

Correct, this is the basis for the scam.

It's all cheap Chinese tat, don't get me wrong. Most of its gone in the bin apart from the socks and the bluetooth speaker. I'm not a frequent user of Amazon by any stretch. I guess I've just been 'lucky' that somehow my personal details are compromised...
 

Rroff

Rroff

Rroff

Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,158
Never had something exactly like that but some of the sellers I buy from regularly send stuff, usually around Christmas, with a "Thank you for being a valued customer" type card and not so subtly implying they are angling at you reviewing the product on Amazon and/or to try and encourage 5 star reviews. Mostly stuff like hats or USB chargers.

EDIT: It has trickled off lately but IIRC Christmas 2016 I got around £200 worth of stuff like that in total.
 

Uncle Petey

Uncle Petey

Uncle Petey

Soldato
Joined
22 Jul 2012
Posts
15,885
Location
London
I've had a couple of these. One was an S9 case, which I gave to a friend.
The other was a really good small LED torch (Wuben L50). In this case, job done, scammers. I recommend this product :D
 

Yas786

Yas786

Yas786

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
48,796
Location
All over the world...
I had a while back, not a huge user of amazon but I received 2 packages. One had about 50 of those whistles that refs blow during a football game or any sports etc. The second package had around 20 el cheapo S9 glass screen protectors.

I called amazon up and they had no idea, didn’t ask for it back so gave some of the screen protectors away to a couple of friends and the rest along with the whistles I just threw away.

Since then haven’t had any random Amazon packages turn up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom