(Getty)
Better Business Bureau Serving Metro New York is alerting New Yorkers to a sudden spike in brushing scams involving delivery of unordered packages, which—unusually—all use the same non-existent return address in Queens. Reports come from consumers nationwide through BBB’s Scam TrackerSM tool. Brushing scams pose a threat because they leverage consumers’ personal information in ways that can potentially be used without permission for profit.
“When a consumer’s home address and identity are misused to send unordered packages, it can be annoying and even scary,” said BBB® Serving Metropolitan New York’s President and CEO Claire Rosenzweig. “Brushing scam incidents should never be ignored; to address the problem, consumers can try contacting the delivery service with a request to stop such deliveries.”
Brushing scams involve mysterious senders mailing packages to unwitting consumers’ doorsteps. These packages can contain various items, often low in cost, such as costume jewelry, knee braces, and gardening gloves.
The unordered packages generally come from third-party sellers, frequently located overseas. While the purpose behind these transactions is not always known, it is believed that sending these packages enables sellers to post fake positive reviews of their businesses online, using the names of the targeted consumers. As is usually the case, in this most recent batch of brushing reports to the Metro New York BBB, recipients have no way to track down the companies because the return address in Queens does not exist, according to a search of the Postal Service address lookup tool and a review of online photos of locations near the purported address.
In recent months, Consumers have submitted more than 50 reports to the Metro NY BBB via BBB’s Scam Tracker program alleging brushing scams. This represents a higher-than-normal volume of such reports.
For more details and tips on how consumers can cope with brushing incidents, visit: BBB Tip:"Brushing” scam indicates a serious problem for victims.
Consumers can visit BBB.org to submit complaints and reviews, check out a business, learn more about scams, and find additional consumer tips. Additionally, consumers can report scams to BBB.org/ScamTracker.