FBI Warns Michigan Residents Of New Package Scam

In today's day and age, many people do a lot of their shopping online and this includes but is not limited to clothes, shoes, groceries, household items, and gifts. The convenience of shopping online has almost created a store-less society as fewer and fewer consumers are physically visiting stores.

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Once upon a time, the online catalogs were significantly smaller than what you could find in stores, now I would argue that everything is online and you're lucky to find anything good in store. This has also brought along its own struggles and issues as well like getting the wrong size or a damaged product.

Another concern that has arisen from the online shopping era are porch pirates, or people who steal packages from people's porches. This has caused many delivery drivers or residents to be creative in how they hide packages or have someone go and get them, so they aren't taken.

Have You Heard Of The New Package Scam?

Well, now the FBI is telling residents in Michigan that they have another thing to worry about when it comes to those packages on their doorstep. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), says the scam involves unsolicited packages being sent to victims across the U.S.

The Packages will arrive with a QR code that will prompt you to provide personal and financial information after scanning it. There is also a chance that scanning the code could lead to the recipient unknowingly downloading malware onto their device. Often times, these packages won't have sender information to try and encourage you to scan the QR code.

This scam isn't as common as others, but it is something that residents should be aware of. Mlive reports:

The scam is a form of “brushing” used by online vendors to artificially improve the ratings of their products. In a brushing scam, vendors send merchandise to an unsolicited recipient and then use the recipient’s information to post a positive review of the product, the FBI says.

To keep yourself safe, the IC3 says:

• Beware of unsolicited packages containing merchandise you did not order.
• Beware of packages that do not include sender information.
• Take precautions before authorizing phone permissions and access to websites and applications.
• Do not scan QR codes from unknown origins.
• If you believe you are the target of a brushing scam, secure your online presence by changing account profiles and request a free credit report from one or all the national credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to identify possible fraudulent activity.