# Received unordered merch. Can't find any evidence I've been charged. I'm sensing a scam... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208 "2020-05-20T20:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/21 "2020-07-28T14:26:47Z")
Saw that article. What a world we live in, you used to worry about your kid trading the cow for magic beans, now we worry about the beans showing up in the mail unordered. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/22 "2020-07-28T14:29:31Z")
I’d be curious exactly what type of seeds those are. Has anyone given them to a botanist? Or even just planted them in a pot indoors? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/23 "2020-07-28T14:32:31Z")
They look like citrus to me. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/24 "2020-07-28T16:19:24Z")
They’re a warning that a secret society is planning to murder you. 😯 > **[The Five Orange Pips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Orange_Pips)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > "The Five Orange Pips", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fifth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. > The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in November 1891. Conan Doyle later ranked the story seventh in a list of his twelve favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. This is also one of only two Sherlock Holmes short stories where Holmes' client dies after seeking h... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/25 "2020-07-28T17:05:45Z")
Looks like they are sending any type of seed that is handy. > **[Mysterious seed packets arriving by mail across U.S., including Michigan:...](https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/27/chinese-china-seed-packets-mail/5520825002/)** > > The unsolicited seeds may be part of a "brushing" scam to boost an online seller's profile. And they could be invasive or harmful species in the U.S. Thanks to this thread, I knew what was going on days before the seed stories started mentioning brushing. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/26 "2020-07-28T23:09:31Z")
I still don’t understand why anything needs to be mailed out for a manufacturer/distributor before they can write a fake review. WHy not just write a fake review? why do you need to have a ‘customer’ address that you actually send something to? ANd if you have to send something to generate an address…why send anything more than an empty envelop? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/27 "2020-07-28T23:53:05Z")
We got a great flashlight in the mail. Big box, but the unit itself was small (but really bright). We looked it up and it was a pricey hunting light. Sold, and shipped from, a legit American company. We called the company, they said “No idea, but it’s paid for, as is the shipping, so enjoy your new top-of-the-line flashlight!” The postal service said pretty much exactly what was quoted in that Forbes article: > If you receive a gift in the mail that you did not order, you can choose to keep it or throw it away. It is up to you. This is a rare instance where “finders, keepers” applies… ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/28 "2020-07-29T00:11:22Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I still don’t understand why anything needs to be mailed out for a manufacturer/distributor before they can write a fake review. WHy not just write a fake review? I don’t know exactly how it works, but I think it has something to do with how sites like Amazon determine the reviewer is a “verified purchaser”. Such reviews hold much more weight than reviews written by random people who may not have actually even bought the product. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/29 "2020-07-31T05:08:27Z")
I would have assumed that they determine “verified purchaser” by the fact that the item was ordered using your Amazon account. The random item would not be tied to your Amazon account - so how would that work? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/30 "2020-07-31T05:12:56Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I would have assumed that they determine “verified purchaser” by the fact that the item was ordered using your Amazon account. The random item would not be tied to your Amazon account - so how would that work?  They make a fake account, buy something, mail it to some random address, and write a review. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/31 "2020-07-31T05:36:59Z")
Does anyone really believe the reviews? Sometimes I just click stars to get them off my back. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/32 "2020-07-31T05:40:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Does anyone really believe the reviews? > Sometimes I just click stars to get them off my back.  Not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/33 "2020-07-31T06:25:39Z")
About half the time they ask me to review something I haven’t even received yet. What’s up with that? But…if I get something for free, I’m promise to review it honestly. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208/34 "2020-07-31T17:42:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > > I would have assumed that they determine “verified purchaser” by the fact that the item was ordered using your Amazon account. The random item would not be tied to your Amazon account - so how would that work?  > > They make a fake account, buy something, mail it to some random address, and write a review. Yep, and since the original question was “Why do they have to mail something?”, I’m guessing – and this is just a guess – Amazon probably makes them prove they actually shipped something to the customer to prove the account isn’t just a fake account set up to generate fake orders so they can write fake reviews before they’ll call it a verified purchase. But now shady vendors have found a way around that by creating a fake account using a real person’s address, and shipping some low value item to that address, making it look like an actual purchase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/received-unordered-merch-cant-find-any-evidence-ive-been-charged-im-sensing-a-scam/854208.md?page=1)