Receive an unsolicited package? It might be a brushing scam [Video]

And like so many others around the U.S. who have gotten a surprise shipment of seemingly random goods, those customers had not ordered the items. 

Consumer protection experts say an unwanted e-commerce order can indicate a so-called brushing scam — a technique some unscrupulous online retailers use to generate fake reviews for their products. The offender is typically a third-party seller on a major e-commerce platform looking to achieve verified merchant status, which enables the seller to write products reviews on someone else’s behalf. 

The scams often involve a foreign company obtaining someone’s address that they found online and then delivering products to their home, according to the Better Business Bureau. Josh Planos, a spokesman for the BBB, advises consumers who receive unsolicited products to document the incidents and contact …