If You Receive a Package You Didn’t Order, It May Be a Scam
Receiving a mystery delivery that you didn’t pay for can feel like a small gift from the universe. After all, it may be something useful, and you are usually not legally obligated to return a misdelivered item . It’s free stuff!
However, be careful: this could also be a so-called “dental brushing scam.” And while cleaning scams usually don’t pose any immediate danger to you, there are plenty of reasons why you should be concerned if you suddenly receive a freebie at your door.
What is a teeth brushing scam?
A teeth brushing scam involves an unscrupulous seller sending you an item you didn’t order, allowing them to create the illusion that you ordered it. Do this enough times with enough people and it looks like the product is popular. The seller can then also write fake reviews in your name—Amazon boosts the ” verified buyer ” status in their reviews, giving them extra weight as it confirms that they actually ordered the item in question. So, clearing scams make fake reviews look doubly legitimate: someone actually ordered the product, and that verified buyer is leaving a review.
Since these are shady companies, they usually send low quality products. These are often knockoffs from luxury brands or low-quality items, and the brush scam helps make them look more legitimate.
Okay, maybe it’s crap, but it’s free! And you can legally keep it! So what’s the big deal if you’re passively helping scammers bypass unsuspecting customers who think you, a genuine, trustworthy person, gave them a good review?
The Dangers of Brush Scams
There’s usually nothing wrong with keeping something sent to you as part of a teeth cleaning scam (although this isn’t always the case ). But there are many instances where dental brushing scams should raise red flags:
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Reputation on the Internet. These fake reviews can grow and your name will become associated with a fraudulent, cheap product. Depending on what the subject is, people can be affected in different ways, and you will be a part of it. The Better Business Bureau strongly recommends that you contact the seller who sent you the package and alert them. This may lead to the removal of fake reviews.
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Lost account. Amazon and other online retailers don’t like fake reviews because it undermines consumer trust in their platform. They may take action against the accounts involved, and you may find yourself caught up in these reprisals even if you weren’t directly involved (after all, if you haven’t contacted the seller about the scam, how will they know?). This could mean that your account will be closed or (rarely, but not never ) you will end up in lawsuits.
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Identity theft. All a scammer needs for the scam to work is your name and address, so simply receiving a mysterious package doesn’t mean your life is about to fall apart. But this means your basic identifying information is out in the open and being used by scammers, and you have no idea if it’s limited to just your name and address. This could be a sign that your personal information has been compromised much more broadly, and you need to take some steps to protect yourself from potential identity theft , including checking your credit reports, changing all of your passwords, and carefully reviewing your credit card statements.
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Payment requests. Typically the brush scam comes in the form of a box that appears out of nowhere and that’s it. Due to the lack of direct costs, this scam seems lifeless at first glance. But these scams are sometimes accompanied by requests for payment in the form of postage or an invoice that arrives later claiming you now owe the company for an item you never ordered. But you’ll never have to pay for something you didn’t order, and you won’t have to return it.