State and federal officials are warning the general public of a recent scam called brushing.
The New York State Division of Consumer Protection says the scam is occurring all over the country and locally.
Part of the scam has consumers receiving a package that they didn’t order in the mail.
After the package is delivered, the scammers begin writing fake positive online reviews of that merchandise in the recipient’s name. The fake reviews fraudulently boost or inflate the products’ ratings and sales numbers, which scammers hope results in an increase of actual sales.
The victim’s personal information is often compromised with this illicit practice.
While the package may be addressed to the recipient, there is no return address, or the return address could be that of a retailer. The sender of the item is usually an international, third-party seller who has found the recipient’s address online.
Successful delivery of the item then turns the recipient into a verified buyer on online marketplaces. The scammer uses the verified buyer’s information to then post a false positive review of a product online and boost the 5-star ratings of the product, convincing legitimate shoppers that the product advertised has received more positive ratings than it has. Since the merchandise actually received is another product that is cheaper to ship, the…
