USPS Warns Idahoans That Packages Could Be a Brushing Scam

We’ve just gotten through the season where you were constantly checking your email for shipping confirmations and smiling every time your “informed delivery” sent you a picture of a Christmas card coming to your mailbox rather than junk mail or a bill.

If at any point during the holiday season you were praying to the shipping gods, we were right there alongside you. We had gifts that we ordered at the end of November perpetually stuck in “processing” a week before Christmas and got the dreaded “ordered delayed” notification, which provided a discount offer but no timeline for when our packages would show up in Boise. We were pleasantly surprised when they arrived the Friday before Christmas.

While we hope all your packages showed up on time, if you shopped online during the holidays you may want to keep your eye out for a recently reported scam that targets online shoppers.

Idahoans Should Be Aware Of What Unexpected Packages

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Whether they showed up on time or are still delayed, you’ve accounted for all your packages. You either have them or have a shipping notification showing you where they’re at. So, what’s in that box that showed up on your doorstep while you were at work? Is it a late gift from a friend or relative?

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We don’t want to be a buzz kill, but probably not. Even if it’s something incredibly cool like a sparkly ring, robot vacuum or a Bluetooth speaker, it could be a sign that your personal information has been compromised. If you can’t account for where the package came from, it’s likely that information was used in what the United States Postal Inspection Service calls a “brushing scam.”

The scammers are usually retailers who, once the package is delivered to your home, log on to leave themselves a glowing, fake review under your name that they hope in turn will generate more sales for themselves.

Norton, the security experts behind LifeLock, explain that they likely got your name and address through a people search, data broker or from a data break that appeared on the dark web.

What Should Idahoans Do If They’ve Been Targeted By a Brushing Scam?

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During the holiday season, reports of brushing scams popped up everywhere from Kuna to Blaine County. The USPS suggests doing the following if you find yourself in a brushing scam.

Don’t Pay for the Merchandise: The Federal Trade Commission clearly states that companies that send you unsolicited merchandise. In fact, if you like it, you can keep it.
Return to Sender: If the package has a return address and you don’t open it, you can mark it “return to sender” and the USPS will take it back from you.
Monitor Your Accounts: We’re talking credit reports, credit card bills and bank statements. If your information was found through a data leak, other scammers could be using it for worse.
Contact the Retailer: If the package originated from a well known company like Amazon, you can file a fraud report and ask them to retract fake reviews left using your name.
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