Have you ever received an Amazon package you did not order?
It might feel like a win, but it could also be the sign that you're the victim of a "brushing" scam and your data has been compromised.
Brushing involves fraudsters sending mystery Amazon orders to homes in a bid to boost the ratings of third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace.
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While free goodies may sound great, and people are entitled to keep the packages sent to their homes in their name, brushing is a cause for concern.
“This kind of scam may seem harmless, but it is often a sign of a previously compromised account that has allowed personal data to fall into the hands of cybercriminals,” says Jonathan Miles, head of strategic intelligence and security research at Mimecas t.
“It is likely that this would have happened as a result of a data breach.”
Alternatively, the data could have been acquired legally by a marketing company: “As we know in the protection of data, if you click that you are happy for your details to be passed to third parties, you may fall victims to these scams.
"Consumers should be weary that these attacks are on the rise and ensure they are not clicking on suspicious links within emails.”
Those who receive packages in their name which they did not order do not have to return the products. A Which? survey found 63% keep them, 28% throw them away and 16% give them away.
Amazon described “brushing” as something "orchestrated by bad actors who procure names and addresses from various external sources," reports Mirror Online.
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