‘Brushing’ scam has online shoppers in Metro Detroit on alert as packages arrive at their front door

Every year, customers learn about a new one almost every week as potential thieves attempt to steal our money. It seems like a welcome surprise at first. A brand-new item with your name on it is in the package when you open your mailbox.

FOX 2, Southfield, Mich.When it comes to frauds, it’s simple to let your guard down during the holiday rush.

Every year, customers learn about a new one almost every week as potential thieves attempt to steal our money. It seemed like a welcome surprise at first. A brand-new item with your name on it is in the package when you open your mailbox.

“When you get something for free, it seems like it’s not a huge deal. “You must keep in mind that your information was acquired,” stated David Derigiotis, president of Flow Specialty. “Brushing scams are a type of e-commerce scam.”

This is the reason this strategy is called a fraud. Although they are not new, more and more customers are becoming aware of this unwanted item fraud every day.

“What they do is they send a package, and usually it is something very lightweight, it can be seeds, it can be fake jewelry, it can be small electronics and what they do is they post a fake review under the individual s name online, trying to lift their sales up and their overall search and legitimacy when others find them,” Derigiotis explained.

Cyber risk specialists advise you to think about the following as soon as you acquire one of these packages:

“You should consider the long-term consequences of this occurring. “How could my identity be used for fraud of any kind, including identity theft?” Derigiotis said.

A QR code for the unwary recipient to scan could be a component of this scam.

“It is not advisable for anyone to scan a QR code. If you do that, your device may wind up with malware or a virus of some kind. Throw it away,” Derigiotis said.

Cyber Risk Experts say there are a number you can do with that unsolicited item. You can toss it in the trash barns, it back to the sender, or you can keep it.

To assist stop this scam from occurring again, you may speak up.

“You can certainly go to government authorities, the FTC tracks scams and complaints for online cyber-related crime, so that is an important step that I think everybody can do as well,” Derigiotis stated.

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