# Is this a scam? What is it supposed to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740 "2019-05-29T22:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/21 "2019-05-31T13:51:12Z")
Sometimes I receive an incorrect item in a box with other items. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/22 "2019-05-31T15:38:37Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t DO anything! We need an upvote function. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/23 "2019-05-31T17:34:04Z")
[Story on NPR](https://www.npr.org/2018/02/11/584519403/the-case-of-the-mysterious-amazon-packages) on this last year. In this case the same couple got multiple packages of junk they didn’t order: > [@](#): > > GARCIA-NAVARRO: And so the stakes are very high for these sellers. And so they’re trying to now, I guess, generate fake reviews by sending the products to someone like the Gallivans and then using that information to generate positive reviews for their products. > > OOI: Yes, because now verified reviews are important. So they need a way that this sale actually took place. And sending it to somebody, a real person who is on the receiving end of that is the perfect cover to write fake reviews. > > GARCIA-NAVARRO: So the idea behind what happened to the Gallivans is that somebody is sending it to them via a gift card purchase and then using their name to leave a review? > > OOI: They don’t have to use the Gallivans’ name to leave the review. It can be any account, right? All they have is that there is an address for the Gallivans, and it’s being received. And so the Gallivans are almost like a dummy address for a dummy account. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/24 "2019-06-02T11:18:28Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I still have a $75 piece of luggage (Rhymes with Tommy Yo Momma) sent to me about two years ago by Amazon. > > If anyone ever contacts me about it I’ll be happy to send it back although it has a few dings on it from the seven times I’ve used it. > > And I will be requiring a $50 storage rental fee for keeping it stored for them. Not that travel equipment is my area of expertise, but I still can’t figure this one out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/25 "2019-06-02T11:58:11Z")
^Tommy Bahama luggage. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/26 "2019-06-02T15:04:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Huh. If it DOES put you in as a “verified buyer,” you could write a review and pan the hell out of it… The way I understand it is that the scammers set up a separate Amazon account (over which they have control), using the physical mailing address of an existing and unsuspecting customer. They then use this account to place an order, which, if fulfilment is via Amazon rather than the third-party vendors themselves, means that the product ends up being shipped to that unsuspecting customer (if the vendors do their own fulfilment, they can just as well skip shipping - the unsuspecting customer is not going to complain about lack of delivery). They now have an account with a “verified purchase” under the name of which they can write eulogical reviews of their own product. So the unsuspecting customer is not the one who can write the reviews, because the order was made from an account other than theirs, even though the physical address registered for that account is theirs. Of course, the whole process implies that there will be two different Amazon accounts for the same physical address of the same physical customer. I don’t know if Amazon checks its customer databases for that sort of thing and weeds out duplicates (I doubt it). ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/27 "2019-06-02T15:28:52Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Sometimes I receive an incorrect item in a box with other items. It happens. at my old computer shop, we once ordered two 8GB sticks of computer ram @ about $200 each at the time. They sent us two _boxes_ with 24 sticks in each. We called them CS rep wasn’t wrapping his brain around we were overshipped 24x what we asked for and told us to keep them. Didn’t have to tell us twice. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740/28 "2019-06-02T15:49:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The thing is, I’m perfectly happy with the togs I already have and see no reason to upgrade. So you wear clothes when you go snake hunting? Good idea. 🙂 > [@davidm](#): > > I wonder if they could be inflating their sales in order to launder money. # That would be my guess. How much detail does the IRS need in business accounting? 40,000 200 sales at 200.00 each . 1,000- cost of goods . 5,000- cost of shipping 34,000 net Can you with not showing all the alleged PayPal and Square transactions, and “pay no attention to those bundles of hundreds lying about.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam-what-is-it-supposed-to-do/834740.md?page=1)