A Virginia woman named Cindy Smith recently found herself in a peculiar situation when she received over 100 Amazon packages that she didn’t order. The unexpected deliveries included a whopping 1,000 headlamps, 800 glue guns, and numerous kids’ binoculars, as reported by CBS affiliate station WUSA.
Smith expressed her confusion and surprise as the boxes continued to pile up outside her home in Prince William County. “It’s a lot of packages,” she told WUSA. “I didn’t order them.”
Upon inspecting the contents of the packages, Smith discovered the assortment of headlamps for running and biking, glue guns, and children’s binoculars. However, what puzzled her even more was that the packages were addressed to someone she didn’t recognize – Lixiao Zhang.
Smith suspected that she might have fallen victim to a “brushing” scam, a fraudulent scheme where e-commerce sellers send unsolicited packages to individuals and post fake positive reviews on their behalf to boost their ratings on platforms like Amazon or eBay. However, WUSA suggested that Smith’s situation was more likely connected to a different kind of vendor scheme.
According to WUSA’s investigation, the returns packaging labels led back to 15 fulfillment centers across nine different states. CJ Rosenbaum, a founding partner at the New York law firm Rosenbaum Famularo, explained that sellers in China sometimes choose random addresses to send their unsold merchandise from Amazon fulfillment centers. This method allows them to remove their unwanted products from the warehouses at a lower cost.
Amazon confirmed that the seller account involved in this incident had violated their policy by engaging in “abusive activity” and assured that the account has been closed. An Amazon spokesperson emphasized their commitment to combating fraud and holding bad actors accountable.
As an environmental science professor, Smith didn’t want the items to go to waste. She took it upon herself to distribute the products to various recipients, including neighbors, dog shelters, veterinary clinics, and even a Burger King. “All my neighbors got glue guns or headlamps,” she shared with WUSA. “I gave them to dog shelters, to veterinary clinics. I went to Burger King one day, and I was like, ‘I have a gift for you.'”
Despite the unusual circumstances, Smith’s resourcefulness and generosity ensured that the unexpected packages found new homes and uses, preventing them from ending up in a landfill.