Family receives dozens of Amazon packages in suspected brushing scam

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WGAL) - Dozens of unwanted packages from Amazon started showing up at a family’s Pennsylvania house in mid-May in a suspected brushing scam.

Stephanie Aponte’s kitchen table is cluttered with the packages she’s received from Amazon since May 18. The address on them was correct, but they were all sent to a woman named Therese, whom Aponte has never heard of.

“It was addressed to us but not to anyone who lived here,” Aponte said.

Aponte says every day, the family receives more and more packages. Over Memorial Day weekend, they got so many, she couldn’t open the front door.

“At the end of the day, it just needs to end ‘cause somewhere, something is not right,” she said.

The array of items sent has been interesting, including electronics, a smartwatch, a smart camera detector and a motherboard hookup. In total, it costs at least $1,000 and likely far more, according to Aponte.

“We haven’t found anything yet suspicious on a credit card,” Aponte said.

Scams like this are often referred to as brushing scams. They involve scammers or real companies sending products like this to customers and then posting glowing reviews under their name – which, of course, lead to more product sales.

So far, no reviews have been found posted under Aponte’s name for these products that would make them seem more popular than they actually are.

Legally, Aponte and her family can keep all these items, and Amazon has told her that. But she says she’s not going to keep anything, fearing an unpleasant surprise down the road.

“Something is going to show up that’s like, ‘You have thousands of dollars in charges,’ and here I have all of this – what I would call – nonsense,” Aponte said.

Amazon says it’s working to determine the source of these mysterious orders.

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