So, went to get my mail, saw a package. I was already expecting one, so blah, blah, blah, I opened it and quickly realized it wasn’t my package. It’s a tirara, as well as a bracelet. I looked up the brand and, thankfully, they’re not diamonds or anything crazy, but they range from $150 to almost $700, either scale being expensive to me. And a tirara has to be an event, which makes it even worse. I checked for an order slip to reference the number, but it’s only the tiara. I don’t recognize the name, and I’ve been at this address for a few years. Do I just return to sender and hope for the best? Community post?
This is probably a scam:
https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/brushing-scam
Note that this may be correct only in Usa. Different in other countries.
Do you know of any countries that have different laws? I’m curious as to how it would work?
Here you do not own it. The owner can request it back. But you can’t be bothered to walk to the post office and pay for shipping it back. So you have to keep it available for him to (come or send someone and) pick it up. At least 3 weeks iirc, unless it is perishable goods. Then you can throw it away. If he does not request it back, then you own it after some time (I forgot how long, half a year maybe).
If I am understanding right, when you say “can’t be bothered”, you mean “can’t be compelled/forced”?
Seems pretty reasonable, albeit slightly reliant on honesty. At least for scammers, they aren’t likely to want it back, as that would deanonymise them, so if its definitely a scam, your pretty safe to keep it.
Thanks for the info :)
I didn’t think of that. The name is pretty generic.
That makes even more sense, they probably dont stand out in the crowded market place, but for a few dollars in shipping and lost product, they can get a glowing review to push them up.
Its important to realise that while the item might list for $$$$$, it probably only costs $ to manufacture.
I thought those usually involved cheaper items. No point in spending hundreds of dollars to lend credence to a fake review
OP may see it listed for $150-700, but who’s not to say it’s a $2 knock-off?
It may be a fake item, but also remember that the cost to make jewelry is usually far less than what they are sold for, so it probably wasn’t hundreds of dollars.
I’ll update when I find the video, but there was a woman who gave a
blackhatdefcon talk about it, and she got a coffee machine, so its not without precedence to spend hundreds.Edit: link https://youtu.be/2IT2oAzTcvU
Well, theoretically they’re just paying Amazon’s cut and taxes… Which isn’t nothing, but if their markup is high enough it could still math out
Well that’s interesting.
I’ve heard of this scam, but I also don’t know how fast change of address works. I sometimes get the occasional package post marked over a year prior and often coming from a foreign country arriving at my doorstep with the address of my apartment, but for a previous tenant.
I read through this a few times, and I’m still not sure how exactly this is supposed to work. The QR phishing part makes sense, but is the gist that they just sent out random crap to random people, in hopes that a few of them will leave a positive review somewhere?
I think the seller themselves write the review. They basically create a fake account with someone’s details in order to generate a legitimate sale so they can leave a review. They sacrifice some of their products to get the reviews up.
The items could also have been purchased with a stolen credit cards.
I had a variation of on of these scams happen to me.
I purchased a pair of headphones on eBay - $50 The box that arrived, was shipped directly from Officeworks, with an invoice for $70, and a business account setup in my name, and a strange credit card. Reported it to officeworks, got to keep the headphones, but likely someone got a $70 charge on their card, and the eBay seller probably got my $50 for free.
Ooohh, okay that makes more sense! So by the time you’ve already received the product, the scam has already been finished and you’re just left throwing away somebody else’s garbage. How wasteful.