Greg's Corner

Brushing scam sends luxury knock-offs

By Greg Collier

If you’re unfamiliar with the brushing scam, it’s when a seller or a third-party vendor creates fake customer accounts on an online marketplace like Amazon. The scammer then ships inexpensive or sometimes completely worthless items to the addresses associated with those fake accounts. The scammer can then leave positive reviews from the fake accounts, boosting their seller rating and improving their visibility on the platform. This can lead to increased sales and higher rankings in search results, thereby tricking other buyers into thinking the seller is trustworthy.

Sometimes, the items sent to consumers don’t even match the item the scammers are reviewing. They just need to make it appear as if the consumer received one of their items, so they can claim it was a verified purchase. Consumers used in a brushing scam tend to receive low-value and lightweight items to make the scam affordable for scammers. However, in Chicago, residents there are receiving some unusual goods.

According to news reports, Chicago area residents have been receiving fake luxury items which they didn’t order. The example used in the news report was a counterfeit Cartier ring, complete with a ‘certificate of authentication’. The Federal Trade Commission has remarked that other items have been sent as well, like a counterfeit Burberry scarf. But the FTC would also like to remind us that no one is going to send the authentic items to people for free.

While the brushing scam may seem like a victimless crime, it really isn’t. If the scams are successful, the algorithms sites like Amazon use will recommend these shady sellers instead of legitimate ones. In turn, this leads to consumers getting inferior products. Not only that, but there is also a security risk involved. While you can legally keep the items sent to you, it may mean that one of your retail accounts may have been compromised. If you receive one of these unsolicited packages, log in to your retail account and make sure it wasn’t charged to you. Even if it wasn’t, you should change your password and enable two-factor authentication on your account.