A Toronto man believes he has been caught up in a “brushing” scam after packages he didn’t order were delivered to his home every week.
The man, who has been identified only as Rob and lives in Etobicoke, said that over the past month he has received one package a week shipped from Amazon—and he doesn’t want them.
“It's like a Christmas bounty is coming to me. But I have a feeling something underlying is at play here because no one just sends people free stuff." Rob said.
The items he has been receiving are not expensive. He has been shipped a selfie light, a nail lamp and some headphones.
“Then came some candles, battery operated candles,” Rob said.
After a quick search online, Rob found something called a “brushing” scam, in which sellers use fake accounts to buy their own products and then mail them to unsuspecting consumers.
The seller will then write positive reviews of their products to post online.
“Somehow they got my information and they are using me as a reviewer as if I checked out all these products and I’m endorsing them,” Rob said.
Rob called the police but they told him just to keep the products and not worry about it.
CTV News Toronto reached out to Amazon and the company agreed to look into Rob’s case. An Amazon spokesperson said it has investigated the unsolicited packages and resolved the issue directly with the customer.
"Our systems are trained to catch this type of behavior and we will continue our efforts to detect and prevent abuse. We will hold offenders that have violated our policies accountable," the spokesperson said.
Rob just wants the packages to stop coming and he hopes his personal information won't be compromised further.
"Who knows when this is going to stop? I’ve seen online people who have got 20 or 30 of these things. I’m up to six now,” Rob said. “I really don't know what to do to stop it at the moment."
