How Scammers Use Unsolicited Packages To Harvest Your Data

It's become a trend at this point: something gets delivered to your home, a package you didn't order, and you wonder where it came from.

MichaelShivers

There's no return address or identifying info anywhere on or within the parcel.

The United States Postal Service says that by law, you are able to keep the items. But often, there's an underlying catch, and it could mean your identity has already been compromised.

Daria Nipot

"The sender of the item(s) is usually an international, third-party seller who has found the recipient’s address online. The intention is to give the impression that the recipient is a verified buyer who has written positive online reviews of the merchandise, meaning they write a fake review in your name. These fake reviews help to fraudulently boost or inflate the products’ ratings and sales numbers, which they hope will result in an increase of actual sales in the long run."

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These scams are called "Brushing" scams. But in recent months, it seems that the masterminds behind the brushing scams have added a new layer to it, and this one tries to get you to give up personal information by scanning a QR code included with the mysterious package.

This new scam, which they have labeled 'quishing,' preys on the fact that most people have both a smartphone at the ready and a sense of natural curiosity.

LDProd

A QR Code is included. Once it's scanned, the recipent is taken to a website asking for some simple personal information, and well, we all know how the rest of the story goes.

The postal service breaks it all down in a handy little video on their Facebook Page.

For obvious reasons, the USPS warns against scanning the codes or giving out any information on mysterious websites.

Tero Vesalainen

And it's certainly worth having a conversation with both your kids and older family members who might come across such packages first, and open them without being fully informed about the risks.

16 Items That You're Absolutely Banned from Mailing in Maine

If you're a regular Mainer without special permits or certifications, these are items that you're absolutely not allowed to mail through the United States Postal Service. This doesn't represent all prohibited and restricted items, so if you've got a question about something you'd like to mail click HERE for more.