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Most of us keep the trace of the packages we expect To prevent them from being pinched from our porches by thieves. But what happens if something unexpected happens by post? Do not automatically presume that it is a surprise gift or just an order that you forgot. This could actually be part of a disturbing diagram. According to the American postal service (USPS), unexpected plans are often a ploy used by crooks as part of a greater idiot. Read the rest to find out more about the USPS brushing scam and how to stay safe.

Read this then: 6 warnings to customers of USPS operators .

In the United States, almost everyone is based on postal service, so it is not surprising that the agency often finds itself at the center of the scams. These diets generally involve fraudulent USPS texts or emails In order to steal people's information.

For joint text scams, the tricksters will claim to come from the postal service and tell customers that there has been a problem with their delivery address, or that a package awaits them at the post office. Thanks to this imitation, the deceptive message is designed to "attract the recipient to provide his personal or financial information", explains the USPS.

E-mail scams involving USPS tend to focus on fraudulent complaints regarding interception deliveries or online shipping costs, according to the agency. These false messages "generally contain a link or attachment which, when open, installs a malicious virus or malware that can steal personal information on the customer's computer", warns the postal service.

But some USPS scams could appear at your door.

Receiving an unexpected package by post may not seem all that concerns, in particular alongside problems such as unclean texts and malicious electronic links. But this package can be part of another postal service scam, and there have been recent objectives.

On January 25, the WQAD ABC-Affiliate in Moline, Illinois, reported that one of its staff members had been contacted by their local position to pay for shipping costs On an unexpected package. The employee said that the package contained a little Christmas bottom which he had never ordered.

It is a revealing sign of the USP " brushing , "According to the agency's postal inspection service (USPIS)." This is how it works: a person receives packages or packages containing various types of items that have not been ordered or requested by the recipient, "explains the USPI in an alert on his website, noting that The recipients can sometimes be invited to pay the package on arrival. "Although the package can be sent to the recipient, there is no return address, or the return address could be that of a retailer."

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If you do not end up sending money, you might think that there is no harm. However, you can involuntarily be part of someone else's scheme.

"We love all surprises and gifts, but when these apparently harmless free items come from a business or a retailer, they can have a higher cost than you think," warns the USPI. According to the inspection branch, the sender in a brushing scam is generally a crook who uses you to convince others to buy non -value garbage.

"The intention is to give the impression that the recipient is a verified buyer who has written positive online criticism of the goods, which means: they write a false criticism in your name," explains the USPIS. "These false criticisms help to fraudulently stimulate or inflate the ratings and figures for product sales, which, according to them, will lead to an increase in real long -term sales. Since the goods are generally cheap and little cost this like a profitable gain. "

If the unsolicited goods came from a third -party seller on Amazon or Ebay, you can submit a fraud report to the retailer to prevent crooks from using you in their program. "Ask the company to delete false reviews under your name," advises the USPI. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

It is not only the other people who could be affected by this program. If you have been targeted by the brushing scam, you are already a crook target. Because to send you something that you have not ordered, the crook probably found your address online.

"Although it may seem to be a crime without victim - you have obtained free stuff - the reality is that your personal information can be compromised," said the USPI. "Often, crooks get personal information by harmful means and with sick institutions, and use it for a number of scams and other illicit activities in the future."

You must act immediately to ensure the safety of your personal information if you are at the reception of a brushing scam. As you have probably already been compromised, the USPIS says that you must immediately modify the passwords of your account. Then, "closely monitor your credit reports and your credit card invoices", recommends the USPI.

As for the package, it depends on you. You can return it to the sender if there is a return address, throw it or even keep it. "If you have opened it and you like it, you can keep it," notes the USPIS. "Depending on the law, you can keep unlined goods and you don't have to pay for it."