Everything related to e-commerce is more widespread than ever across the globe. There are more and more online stores that we can use, and the number of packages circulating on the streets is much greater than just a few years ago.
The truth is that parcel delivery has been around for decades. However, it could be argued that, due to these online purchases, courier services are more widespread than ever before. Unsurprisingly, malicious actors are fully aware of the huge boom in online shopping.
There are many scams and frauds that we can find nowadays related to online commerce. But in these lines we are going to focus on a model that has been growing a lot in recent times. Specifically, we are referring to the so-called brushing or scam of the purchase not made.
What is brushing when shopping online?
This scam is carried out by certain online stores and its main objective is to increase their popularity and extract personal data from users or buyers. What these online stores do at first is to randomly send certain low-value products to supposed buyers who have not requested them.
From there, once the fake buyer accepts the purchase as such, the online store publishes fake reviews in his name. In addition, at the same time it already has the personal data that the person who has received the package, without asking for it, provides. With all this, what the store achieves is to improve its popularity thanks to these fake reviews, and also obtains personal data that it could sell to third parties.
In addition, through this practice we can face certain risks such as the closure of our account if they are discovered and false reviews. In the event that we receive some type of technological device, it could be full of viruses and all kinds of malware if we are going to use it. And not only that, our personal data is at risk since we have provided it to receive that product that we have not ordered.
How to avoid risks if we are victims of this scam
It is true that it is very tempting to stick with a certain product that can come from stores like Amazon, AliExpress, etc. But we should also consider the risks we are going to run by accepting that product that we have not ordered at home.
Furthermore, we must bear in mind that by using this method called brushing, the sellers involved will normally send us very low-cost products. This means that it is not worth taking risks. Therefore, what we want to tell you with all this is that the best solution to avoid problems and risks is not to accept purchases that we have not made, just in case.
We must take into account that many of the current e-commerce giants accept external sellers. This is where we can run the risks mentioned in these same lines through products that we have not requested.
