I hadn't heard of this kind of scam before. Interesting but I guess not too surprising.

I think I read before somewhere (maybe on TexAgs) about folks receiving Amazon deliveries that they hadn't ordered. At the time, I didn't realize the possible root cause (Amazon Brushing).

https://clark.com/shopping-retail/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/

Kept reading the article waiting for the bad part of this scam. It sounds like you just get a bunch of free stuff, and legally you get to keep it..

boy09 said:

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Kept reading the article waiting for the bad part of this scam. It sounds like you just get a bunch of free stuff, and legally you get to keep it..

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It means your info was probably already compromised.

little bit of a stretch that it's a "risk". anyone who owns a home has their name and address already out on public record. someone want to send me some phone chargers or a back scratcher every other week? bring it on.

probably more of a nuisance than anything.

Cromagnum said:

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boy09 said:

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Kept reading the article waiting for the bad part of this scam. It sounds like you just get a bunch of free stuff, and legally you get to keep it..

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It means your info was probably already compromised.

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The chances of your info not being compromised is much higher.

Other than your address being compromised, there's not really anything negative for the person receiving stuff. The point of the tactic is to pump up ratings from verified purchasers. If they send out 500 free items, and leave a bunch of 5 star reviews from verified purchasers, the product looks really good. That's the idea of this. For most people, it just means the reviews can't be trusted.

I made a thread here for advice, but I received packages I didn't order...and eventually there was a "bad" part of the scam.....

I originally received a couple packages I didn't order, called Amazon, it was this brushing scam.

But somehow, someone then created an Amazon account in my name, with my address, and with my credit card, only thing different was the phone number.

I received a couple more packages I didn't order, but this time my credit card had charges I didn't recognize. I called Amazon, I was able to tell them the order ID from the packaging and the charge from the credit card statement and they matched. They pulled the account and it was in my name, but it wasn't my main account, that's in my wife's name. They couldn't cancel it because the two party authentication required them to call the number and they confirm. It wasn't my number. I went back and forth with Amazon, they were absolutely worthless.

AMEX refunded my money.

Then this account started using my credit card to charge a Prime membership. Again, Amazon was beyond worthless. AMEX refunded the couple months of charges and blocked Amazon at my request.

Then this account started using my money to download music. Again, Amazon was worthless. AMEX refunded the money and blocked Amazon music.

Then it happened with Amazon photos charges. Same resolution as above.....

Not sure these issues were related or not....

htxag09 said:

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I made a thread here for advice, but I received packages I didn't order...and eventually there was a "bad" part of the scam.....

I originally received a couple packages I didn't order, called Amazon, it was this brushing scam.

But somehow, someone then created an Amazon account in my name, with my address, and with my credit card, only thing different was the phone number.

I received a couple more packages I didn't order, but this time my credit card had charges I didn't recognize. I called Amazon, I was able to tell them the order ID from the packaging and the charge from the credit card statement and they matched. They pulled the account and it was in my name, but it wasn't my main account, that's in my wife's name. They couldn't cancel it because the two party authentication required them to call the number and they confirm. It wasn't my number. I went back and forth with Amazon, they were absolutely worthless.

AMEX refunded my money.

Then this account started using my credit card to charge a Prime membership. Again, Amazon was beyond worthless. AMEX refunded the couple months of charges and blocked Amazon at my request.

Then this account started using my money to download music. Again, Amazon was worthless. AMEX refunded the money and blocked Amazon music.

Then it happened with Amazon photos charges. Same resolution as above.....

Not sure these issues were related or not....

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This feels like more than simply Amazon Brushing - how'd they get your CC info in the first place.

Also - why has AMEX not cancelled that card? It sounds like you've had to contact them several times about this, and they just refund and at no point say "maybe we should assume your card is compromised"?

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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htxag09 said:

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I made a thread here for advice, but I received packages I didn't order...and eventually there was a "bad" part of the scam.....

I originally received a couple packages I didn't order, called Amazon, it was this brushing scam.

But somehow, someone then created an Amazon account in my name, with my address, and with my credit card, only thing different was the phone number.

I received a couple more packages I didn't order, but this time my credit card had charges I didn't recognize. I called Amazon, I was able to tell them the order ID from the packaging and the charge from the credit card statement and they matched. They pulled the account and it was in my name, but it wasn't my main account, that's in my wife's name. They couldn't cancel it because the two party authentication required them to call the number and they confirm. It wasn't my number. I went back and forth with Amazon, they were absolutely worthless.

AMEX refunded my money.

Then this account started using my credit card to charge a Prime membership. Again, Amazon was beyond worthless. AMEX refunded the couple months of charges and blocked Amazon at my request.

Then this account started using my money to download music. Again, Amazon was worthless. AMEX refunded the money and blocked Amazon music.

Then it happened with Amazon photos charges. Same resolution as above.....

Not sure these issues were related or not....

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This feels like more than simply Amazon Brushing - how'd they get your CC info in the first place.

Also - why has AMEX not cancelled that card? It sounds like you've had to contact them several times about this, and they just refund and at no point say "maybe we should assume your card is compromised"?

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I don't know how they got my card. It really seemed like they were just able to clone my Amazon account somehow.

At one point AMEX did cancel the card and issue a new one. But, they have a new feature that recurring charges still go through so you don't have to reset up your electricity, etc. Amazon is recurring so these came through. I was going to cancel the card fully, but honestly it was a 5 minute process to submit a claim, online message a representative, and have them block the new charge originator, plus how many more Amazon entities can their be, so I just did that. If it happens again I'll probably just fully cancel the card.

That makes sense about them carrying over recurring charges.

Edit: just read your follow up post