Unexpected Gifts Showing up? It Could be the Latest Scam to Hit Michigan

From phishing to vishing to smishing to quishing, it's practically a full-time job safeguarding yourself and your family from scammers. Now there's a new one and it's called 'brushing.'

What is a Brushing Scam?

'Brushing' is a fairly new term to describe unscrupulous activity and it has nothing to do with oral hygiene. There has also been a bit of misinformation about brushing being spread on the internet, and we've seen a few police agencies passing along information that isn't quite accurate.

Brushing starts with a package or gift that arrives at your home with an unexpected gift. The unsolicited item may come from a third-party seller with a storefront on Ebay or Amazon.

Earl Duby is the Chief Information Security Officer at Auxium. He tells WDIV that receiving one of these packages probably indicates that your personal information has been compromised.

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“They’ve got your name and your address from some stolen data that’s out there on the internet someplace,” Duby said. “It’s a sign that your personal information has been leaked out there somewhere on the internet.”

He adds that the best thing to do is change passwords, enable multi-factor authentication and keep an eye on your credit for unauthorized charges.

Brushing Packages Usually Include a QR Code

Unsolicited packages usually include QR codes which scammers hope you'll scan. The QR code will likely take you to a website where you'll be asked to enter personal and financial information.

The best practice here is to ignore the QR code and avoid handing over any of your personal information to bad actors.

We have a full explanation of phishing, vishing, smashing, and quishing here and here.