OKEECHOBEE — An Okeechobee couple recently reported a strange issue they were having with their mail. According to the incident report, the couple went to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office on May 13 at approximately 2:15 p.m. regarding suspicious mail. They told Deputy Dylan Abdelquader that they had been receiving multiple empty envelopes and packages in their mail over the prior few weeks. They said all the items had the name "Dave" as the sender and the address was in New York.

Despite searching for this person online, they were unable to locate him. They went to the Post Office and spoke with staff there. They were told not to scan anything on the packages, particularly QR codes, because this appeared to be a brushing scam. They said they had not scanned anything and just wanted to make the public aware of this scam, so they were not fooled if it happened to them.

According to the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Brushing Scam began with people, usually in another country, sending packages containing various cheap items that were not ordered to a recipient in the United States. They then use the recipient’s name to post reviews of businesses. The fake reviews boost the ratings on the product or business.

“Recently, a new variation on the brushing scam has emerged, adding a component of quishing. Quishing, short for QR code phishing, uses a QR code that sends you to a fake website once you scan it. These websites look legitimate and seemingly are from and appear to be official sites of banks, government organizations, or other institutions. But they are actually scams or fake sites used by criminals to get your personal identifiable information (PII). Cards with QR codes are sent inside packages as a part of brushing scams. The QR code is sent under the guise that you need to scan the code to find out who sent you the gift or to get more information about the company that sent the gift.”

The website continues stating, “While it may appear to be a victimless crime—you did after all get some free stuff—the reality is that your personal information may be compromised. Often scammers obtain personal information through nefarious means and with ill-intentions and use it for a number of scams and other illicit activities in the future. Your fake review may prompt people to purchase worthless stuff. In other instances, bad actors are using a person’s address and account information to receive merchandise then steal it from the home before the resident is able to intercept it.”

To protect yourself from scams of this type:

• Never pay for merchandise you did not order.
• Return the unopened package if there is a return address.
• If you did open it, throw it away or keep it.
• Consider changing your online passwords in case your information has been compromised.
• Keep any eye on your credit reports.
• If the package contains anything organic or an unknown liquid or substance, contact authorities.
• Notify the company if you receive something you did not order from Ebay, Amazon, etc.
• Ask to have fake reviews using your name to be removed.