A Brushing scam occurs when somebody uses your address and possibly your name. They set up an account on an online marketplace or retailer like Amazon or AliExpress. They then place orders under this account, and you get sent the packages. They are for cheap items, usually under a few dollars, so the cost isn’t high for the scammer. The scammers post a 5-star review as you on the site. They use the account they set up with your shipping details. You don’t pay a thing here, and you aren’t really the target of this scam (in this case). The target is the online marketplace or retailer. They use the confirmed purchase reviews to help boost sales of the product(s). They might be involved with the products or outsourced to gather ‘real’ reviews.
They don’t have your billing information, so you aren’t charged for the products. If you receive the items, you can either keep them or donate them. I recommend contacting the marketplace. Inform them about what has transpired. This way, they can take action on their end.
How The Scammers Got Your Information
The scammers likely found your information through publicly accessible sources. These include a phone number listing or a possible leak. Your address might have just come from somebody walking down the street. As mentioned before on this site, you can check to see if your data has been included in any data leaks on https://haveibeenpwned.com. I suggest you do this regularly, you can learn more about HaveIBeenPwned here.
Alternatives To The Brushing Scam
Credit Card Fraud
If you happen to receive expensive items, this is not a brushing scam. People have been known to receive new iPhones, or expensive headphones, etc. This is more than likely somebody buying items with a stolen credit card and are shipping the items to your address so they don’t get caught. They will then plan to pick up the packages from your address before you get to them. This would fall under credit card fraud. You should contact your local authorities or RCMP.
Card Testing Scam
Scammers use stolen credit cards to place small orders to verify if the stolen card works
Survey/Prize Entry Brushing Variant
A fake contest or survey gathers names and addresses, then the information is used in a brushing scam.
How To Protect Yourself
This one is hard to avoid. Your address is public, and anybody can see it just by walking down the street. They can also find it in a directory listing. As mentioned, if you receive cheap items that you didn’t order, contact the originating marketplace and discuss it with them. If you receive expensive items, contact your local police or RCMP, as this is a much more serious issue.