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 packages contained an assortment of items, including 1,000 headlamps, 800 glue guns, and numerous kids’ binoculars. According to CBS affiliate station WUSA, Smith was left puzzled as the boxes continued to pile up outside her home in Prince William County.
“It’s a lot of packages,” Smith shared with WUSA. “I didn’t order them.” Despite the packages being addressed to her, they were actually meant for someone named Lixiao Zhang, whom Smith didn’t recognize. This led her to suspect that she may have fallen victim to a “brushing” scam, 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 and eBay.
However, WUSA discovered that Smith’s situation was likely connected to a different type of vendor scheme. It appears that sellers attempt to remove unsold merchandise from Amazon fulfillment centers by sending them to random addresses. WUSA traced the return packaging labels to 15 fulfillment centers across nine states.
CJ Rosenbaum, a founding partner at the New York law firm Rosenbaum Famularo, explained that this scheme is driven by sellers in China who want to clear their products from Amazon warehouses. They choose random addresses and send their unwanted items there because it is more cost-effective for them. Amazon confirmed that the seller account involved in this incident violated their policies and has since been closed.
Smith, who works as an environmental science professor, didn’t want the items to go to waste, so she took it upon herself to distribute them around town. She gave glue guns and headlamps to her neighbors, as well as dog shelters and veterinary clinics. She even surprised employees at Burger King with a gift. Smith’s actions ensured that the items didn’t end up in a landfill.
“There is no place for fraud at Amazon, and we will continue to pursue all measures to protect our store and hold bad actors accountable,” stated an Amazon spokesperson to Insider. Smith’s story serves as a reminder of the unexpected situations that can arise from online shopping and the importance of staying vigilant.