Personal Finance & Money Asked by gnasher729 on January 22, 2021
My wife received a small package, containing a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses (whether original or fake I don’t know) in a nice leather-looking case. It is addressed to her, correct name, street, postcode, and her mobile phone number printed on it. Declared with a value of $15 printed on it, and coming from a company in China.
Everything fine, except she never ordered any sunglasses, and she never paid for any sunglasses.
I know there are scams where scammers send rubbish items to random people, and that entitles them to post fake reviews on Amazon, for example. The only thing is, this isn’t a rubbish item. Even if these sunglasses are fake, they would be worth some money.
Does anyone have an idea how either (a) a company in China could send goods to a random real person by mistake, or (b) what kind of scam would make it worth while to send an item that would probably cost £10 to £20 on Amazon?
This is common enough that it has a name, a "brushing scam". Newsweek quotes the USDA:
The USDA said in a statement: "At this time, we don't have any evidence indicating this is something other than a 'brushing scam' where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales.
More news coverage:
The scam is worth it because an item that costs the consumer £10 to £20 probably cost the manufacturer, especially one making counterfeit goods, about £5 or less including shipping.
That £5 loss from sending your wife and many other consumers is worth it apparently. They can say they delivered so many dozens or hundreds without delay and have positive reviews from the completed sale and delivery. It is a way to buy reputation and legitimacy.
I would be surprised if you got a real Ray Ban product. A casual search turned up dozens of sites like this one which list how to spot a fake by:
The sites that say how to identify fake sunglasses are run by competitors who make their money by selling legitimate designer sunglasses.
Answered by Freiheit on January 22, 2021
depends what was in the package and whether they asked for anything whether money review or otherwise
some larger packages contain drugs or goods ordered by a stolen credit card and delivered to a third party address by ups where someone follow the ups truck and removes the package before the fake name on it has a chance to find it
Answered by yukfoo on January 22, 2021
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