A Virginia woman named Cindy Smith recently found herself in a peculiar situation when she started receiving more than 100 Amazon packages that she didn’t order. The packages contained a surprising assortment of items, including about 1,000 headlamps, 800 glue guns, and numerous kids’ binoculars. Smith’s confusion grew as the boxes continued to pile up outside her home in Prince William County.
“It’s a lot of packages,” Smith told CBS affiliate station WUSA. “I didn’t order them.”
Upon further investigation, Smith discovered that the packages were addressed to a name she didn’t recognize – Lixiao Zhang. This led her to suspect that she might be a victim of 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 online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
However, WUSA reported that Smith’s situation is more likely linked to a different kind of vendor scheme. It appears that sellers in China are trying to remove unsold merchandise from Amazon fulfillment centers. They select random addresses and send their unwanted products there as it is cheaper for them to do so.
WUSA traced the return packaging labels to 15 fulfillment centers in nine different states. CJ Rosenbaum, a founding partner at the New York law firm Rosenbaum Famularo, explained that this scheme ultimately comes down to money. The sellers in China violate Amazon’s policies by engaging in “abusive activity,” which includes sending unsolicited packages to random addresses.
Amazon confirmed that the seller account involved in this scheme has been closed and stated that there is no place for fraud on their platform. They are committed to protecting their store and holding bad actors accountable.
As an environmental science professor, Smith didn’t want the items to go to waste, so she took matters into her own hands. She drove around town distributing the items to neighbors, dog shelters, veterinary clinics, and even surprised the staff at Burger King with a gift.
“All my neighbors got glue guns or headlamps,” Smith shared. “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.'”
Smith’s unexpected delivery spree turned a potentially frustrating situation into a heartwarming act of generosity.