Mind Uncharted Explore. Discover. Learn.
It turned out to be a ‘novel scam’, but the victim got to keep all of the items; here’s what an investigation found
Read more…
Screengrab: YouTube / WUSA9
The parcels just kept piling up to a point that there was no space left on her frontyard.
Smith said the boxes did have her address but the recipient was supposed to be someone named ‘Lixiao Zhang’, a person she didn’t know.
Inside the boxes were 1,000 headlamps for running and biking, 800 glue guns, and several binoculars for kids, according to media reports.
Initially, she thought she had fallen victim to a ‘brushing scam’ — where online sellers would send packages to random people, and then post positive reviews on their behalf to boost ratings.
Screengrab: YouTube / WUSA9
Experts said, however, that this could be different.
News outlet WUSA was able to trace the packages to 15 Amazon fulfilment centres. It said it could have been a different scheme that involved sellers who were trying to offload unsold items from Amazon warehouses.
A lawyer agreed that this could have been the case as it would be “cheaper” for sellers to get rid of unwanted products this way.
Amazon confirmed in a statement that this tactic is considered ‘abusive activity’, a violation of the company’s policy. The seller’s account had been closed, according to the reports.
Stuck with all the headlamps and glue guns she didn’t need, Smith decided to give them away.
“All my neighbours got glue guns or headlamps,” she told the media. “I gave them to dog shelters, to veterinary clinics. I went to Burger King one day, and I was like, ‘I have a gift for you.'”
