There’s a package scam affecting a lot of people. It doesn’t work like most scams in that it doesn’t involve defrauding you or stealing your money. In fact, these scammers actually give you stuff. Sometimes a lot of it. In fact, some families have reported receiving 25 packages they didn’t order from Amazon in just a month.
I’ve heard about scams like this for a while, but it was drawn to my attention recently when a good friend of mine received a package addressed to her late husband. (He’s been gone for nearly six years.) Thankfully, her package only contained some pet accessories. Some people have reported receiving adult items and other odd merchandise.
Here’s what’s happening. No, your Amazon account hasn’t been hacked. These people are just sending items to you. There are multiple reasons that scammers do this.
Sometimes they actually offer free stuff in return for your agreement to write a review of the product. Since reviews are a very important part of Amazon sales, good reviews help boost a product’s visibility. Under no circumstances, should you ever agree to trade reviews for products. This can result in your Amazon account being shut down, even if you didn’t initiate the contact. The only things people are allowed to give away on Amazon are Kindle and audio downloads. But that’s with Amazon’s permission and still can’t be given in exchange for a promise of a review.
Amazon shut down thousands of customer accounts last month saying that users had offered reviews in exchange for products and gift cards.
Other times, you’re left out of the loop entirely. The seller just wants to send the package somewhere so it shows there were verified purchases and shipments of the items. Then someone working for the seller writes a fake review using a fake username.
The shipments could be intended to boost the profile of the product by making it appear that it’s selling well.
On the bright side, if you get a delivery like this, it doesn’t mean some weirdo is stalking you. Should you receive an unexpected package with no information on who it’s from, I’d suggest checking around to see if someone sent you a gift and also checking your recent orders to make sure you didn’t forget that you ordered something. If you can’t find any information, you probably should let Amazon know what’s happening.