Provincial Police are investigating a parcel scam involving personal information theft that has impacted some people in Bruce County.
South Bruce OPP say over a dozen individuals in Huron-Kinloss and Kincardine have contacted police this week after receiving unsolicited parcels at their home addresses from Amazon.
Police say in each case the parcels have been addressed to elementary school-aged children in the household. Parents' credit cards have been charged for purchases ranging in price from $67 to $85. The parcels do not contain shipping information or return addresses.
OPP say the scam is known as “Amazon Brushing,” when third-party sellers — usually from outside Canada — have gained access to personal account information including home addresses and credit card numbers.
“The scammers send out unsolicited items and then make it appear as though you wrote a glowing online review of their merchandise and that you are a verified buyer of that merchandise,” South Bruce OPP say in a release. “These fake ratings and reviews can improve their product ratings which means more sales and higher profits. As well the fraudulent purchases themselves means increased sales for the company.”
Police say an investigation is currently underway to try to determine the source of the data breach.
South Bruce OPP are asking anyone who received an unsolicited parcel to contact them at 1-888-310-1122.
Police advise anyone who falls victim to this type of theft to contact your credit card company to report fraudulent charges and cancel the card, notify Amazon's customer service department, change account passwords that may have been compromised, report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and keep a close eye on credit card statements for future fraudulent purchases.