A woman in Virginia receives numerous Amazon packages she never ordered, suspected of being part of a vendor return scheme or brushing scam; Amazon takes action against the violating seller.
A woman in Virginia, USA, was bewildered when numerous Amazon packages addressed to a certain "Lixiao Zhang" started arriving at her home in Prince William County, as reported by the New York Post. The unexpected packages contained around 1,000 headlamps, 800 glue guns, and dozens of binoculars for children, as reported by Insider via CBS affiliate station WUSA9. The surplus of Amazon boxes quickly piled up at her doorstep and in her basement, causing delivery drivers to struggle to access her front door.
Despite not having ordered these items, Cindy Smith had to find a way to deal with the ever-increasing packages. To handle the situation, she took matters into her own hands, distributing the items throughout the town by giving them away to anyone willing to take them. She gave headlamps and glue guns to neighbors, dog shelters, veterinary clinics, and even surprised the staff at a Burger King with a gift.
“They came from everybody. FedEx, Amazon, and all of them were delivering boxes. It's a lot of packages. I didn't order them,'' she said.
“I would drive around with headlamps and glue guns in the car. I gave them to everybody I met. All my neighbours got glue guns or headlamps. I gave them to dog shelters, and to veterinary clinics. I went to Burger King one day, and I was like, 'I have a gift for you','' she added.
Initially, Smith suspected she might be a victim of the "brushing scam," where sellers send unsolicited items to boost product ratings with fake positive reviews. However, WUSA9 suggests she may be caught up in a "vendor return" scheme, where sellers attempt to offload unsold products from Amazon's fulfillment centers.
Explaining the scheme, CJ Rosenbaum, a New York Attorney representing companies selling on Amazon, mentioned that sellers located in China might randomly select addresses to send products back to Amazon's warehouses to save on expenses.
"It all boils down to money. You have sellers located in China, who are just picking random addresses. And then when they need to get their products out of Amazon's warehouses, they're just having them sent there, because it's just cheaper for them to do so," explained CJ Rosenbaum, a New York Attorney who represents companies selling on Amazon.
Amazon responded to the situation, stating that the seller account involved in this incident had violated the company's policies through "abusive activity," leading to the account's closure.