Victim of "Brushing" Today, Received Package I Never Ordered

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Today I received a package from Amazon that I never ordered. Inside the envelope was a box of disposable masks, 50 count, made in China. No information of worth was on the envelope.

I heard on the news about people getting packages that they didn't buy and scammers using their Amazon name to write false politive reviews on the items. I googled about it and learned it was called 'brushing'. I was going to contact Amazon to tell them, but their chat feature is useless and I couldn't use the call me feature because I had to click on a reason that had nothing to do with my concern.

Anyhoo, I just went in and changed my password, and deleted a credit card they had saved from my last purchase. I am usually careful to uncheck the box for them to keep the card on file for other purchases. It's convenient, but I never liked that idea.

Anyone here been a victim of brushing?
 

In many states, the law is that if you receive something you didn't order, you can keep it if you wish.
I was shopping for a DVD yesterday on Amazon; I never bought it & never ordered it.
When I looked for it again today, it said "You purchased this." It was on some type of movie you watch on your computer.
I phoned Amazon & they immediately refunded the $7.99.
 
win231 said:
In many states, the law is that if you receive something you didn't order, you can keep it if you wish.
Click to expand...
Yes, I saw on more than one information site that you can keep the item. That's good, because in no way would I go through the hassle of returning something I never even ordered. Don't have that much time on my hands. :)
 

I haven't, but I picked up on one of my pet peeves in your post - I HATE when you're trying to contact a company, and in order to do so you have to select from a list of reasons - usually none of them apply, and then what are you supposed to do?
 
I know Apple has good security ....however I recently deleted my credit card details on their site cause I was charged for a app I didn’t download it had a monthly charge. ( it was a scanner to read Menus ect )
I hadn’t heard anything recently about security breaches ...and I study any apps I’m interested in before downloading .
 
Autumn said:
I haven't, but I picked up on one of my pet peeves in your post - I HATE when you're trying to contact a company, and in order to do so you have to select from a list of reasons - usually none of them apply, and then what are you supposed to do?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I just gave up....seemed like I was wasting my time there. There was no option for 'other', where you write in your issue.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Today I received a package from Amazon that I never ordered. Inside the envelope was a box of disposable masks, 50 count, made in China. No information of worth was on the envelope.

I heard on the news about people getting packages that they didn't buy and scammers using their Amazon name to write false politive reviews on the items. I googled about it and learned it was called 'brushing'. I was going to contact Amazon to tell them, but their chat feature is useless and I couldn't use the call me feature because I had to click on a reason that had nothing to do with my concern.

Anyhoo, I just went in and changed my password, and deleted a credit card they had saved from my last purchase. I am usually careful to uncheck the box for them to keep the card on file for other purchases. It's convenient, but I never liked that idea.

Anyone here been a victim of brushing?
Click to expand...
I would have (and have done so in the past) selected whatever I had in mind of selecting at the time to prompt a "call me", then I would have chastised them (just like I have done in the past) for failing to provide a reasonable and workable list of options to it's customers.
 
Aunt Marg said:
I would have (and have done so in the past) selected whatever I had in mind of selecting at the time to prompt a "call me", then I would have chastised them (just like I have done in the past) for failing to provide a reasonable and workable list of options to it's customers.
Click to expand...

I wasn't desperate enough to choose anything and wait for a call back that may never come, or not today anyway. Figured I'd skip the aggravation, even if you complain to them about their choices, chances are they will remain the same. I knew I had to change my password for security sake, so that was good enough for me. The masks are in the garage, guess they'll come in handy some day.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I wasn't desperate enough to choose anything and wait for a call back that may never come, or not today anyway. Figured I'd skip the aggravation, even if you complain to them about their choices, chances are they will remain the same. I knew I had to change my password for security sake, so that was good enough for me. The masks are in the garage, guess they'll come in handy some day.
Click to expand...
I totally appreciate how you feel about being put on hold for extended periods of time, SeaBreeze.

With Amazon, however, and speaking from personal experience, any time I have selected the "call me" option, the very instant you click on the "call me" balloon (after entering your telephone number into the system), the telephone rings. It truly is instantaneous. :)
 
Last edited:
Amazon is also excellent at taking back products that are broken or not working well, and at no cost to the consumer. I imagine that would hold for items you didn't order, as well.

But, as mentioned above, changing your password is always a good idea, especially in a case like this.
 
Devi said:
Amazon is also excellent at taking back products that are broken or not working well, and at no cost to the consumer. I imagine that would hold for items you didn't order, as well.

But, as mentioned above, changing your password is always a good idea, especially in a case like this.
Click to expand...

I agree, there was a few times over the years that I needed to return something, and it was an easy process. But, I doubt you could return something that you never purchased to begin with.
 
Aunt Marg said:
With Amazon, however, and speaking from personal experience, any time I have selected the "call me" option, the very instant you click on the "call me" balloon (after entering your telephone number into the system), the telephone rings. It truly is instantaneous.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's good to know know, I've never used it before, but may need to one day.
 
For a while there was a spate of unordered seeds showing up at peoples houses from China. It was probably the same type of deal with brushing. It was scary because you did not know what type of seeds they were.
 
Also please use strong passwords that are easy to remember. Add long series of numbers that have some meaning to you and it's also wise to use two factor authentication, IMO.

I never have a site remember my credit card information. Large companies seem to be hacked as easily as small ones.
 
Gardenlover said:
I never have a site remember my credit card information. Large companies seem to be hacked as easily as small ones.
Click to expand...

When you're making an online order there's often a box that is checked by default to save your credit card info. I've seen that even when ordering no contact delivery from restaurants, they have that box checked. I'm paying more attention to it and unchecking it, but I don't always remember.
 
Autumn said:
I haven't, but I picked up on one of my pet peeves in your post - I HATE when you're trying to contact a company, and in order to do so you have to select from a list of reasons - usually none of them apply, and then what are you supposed to do?
Click to expand...

If they have "other" as an option, usually at the end of the long list choose that one.
 
I saw documentary on the virus last night on Frontline. One fact was brought out was counterfeit masks coming from China that do not protect the wearer. I would burn them if I were you.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Yes, I saw on more than one information site that you can keep the item. That's good, because in no way would I go through the hassle of returning something I never even ordered. Don't have that much time on my hands. :)
Click to expand...
In Pennsylvania, as long as your credit card was not charged for the item, it shows that you did not order it and at that point, it shall become your property. If you didn't order the item, but your credit card was charged for it, you are legally responsible for paying for or returning the item.
 
fmdog44 said:
I saw documentary on the virus last night on Frontline. One fact was brought out was counterfeit masks coming from China that do not protect the wearer. I would burn them if I were you.
Click to expand...

I thought the masks were supposed to protect everyone else FROM the wearer. They are not supposed to protect the wearer. Though most of us expect them to.
 
Update: Please disregard this thread, I was mistaken. My sister just contacted me to ask if I received the masks she sent me from Amazon. She gave no indication that she would be sending me any masks, so I immediately thought of the scam news I've heard in the past.

No harm done, and I can rest easier when I do use those masks. So far I've just been using my cotton ones and rewashing them, maybe now I'll put a couple of those disposables in my vehicles for easy access if needed.

Thankfully there was no hacking involved, and I guess it was a good time to change my password on Amazon. :)
 
Sunny said:
I thought the masks were supposed to protect everyone else FROM the wearer. They are not supposed to protect the wearer. Though most of us expect them to.
Click to expand...

I agree with you Sunny, the mask is supposed to protect others in case the wearer is infected with coronavirus and perhaps not showing any symptoms. They do have some protection for the wearer, better than a bare face when around infected people.
 
Yes, it just seems intuitive that the mask would provide some protection to the wearer as well. And speaking of masks, I have a few cotton ones that my daughter sent me, and a box of those disposable ones. I like the disposable ones better. At least I can sort of breathe in those.

Glad your mystery is over, at any rate.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top