Scammers are targeting online retailers but consumers could be left holding the bag
of ConsumerAffairsIts called the bag of sugar scam but it might be more accurately called the boomerang scam. Because instead of a large online retailer like Amazon being the victim, an innocent consumer is left holding the bag.
The scam has its roots in lenientcorporate return policies. These policies have become so lax that if a consumer complains that they never received the product or didnt order the product in the first place, the retailer is likely to give the consumer their money back, even though they have the ordered product in their possession.
Theres also a name for that digital shoplifting and a survey by the antifraud tech company Socure found that 55% of Gen Z consumers and 49% of millennials earning more than $100,000 a year admit to digital shoplifting at least once.
Even though ripping off the system has become very easy, organized thieves are making it foolproof by keeping the product and returning the box in which the product came. To fool the retailer, they carefully open the box and fill it with bags of sugar and other items so that the box weighs approximately the same.
How consumers get scamed
Next, they carefully reseal the box so that it doesnt appear to have been opened and send it back to the retailer. Once it arrives, the box usually goes back into the warehouse until a consumer orders the same thing.
Without opening the box to check its contents, the retailer ships it to the unsuspecting consumer, who is shocked when they open the box and find, not the microwave oven they ordered but four 10-pound bags of sugar.
Consumer authorities generally attribute the rise in return scams to the fact that large online retailers have found it cheaper it absorb the cost of the item, rather than set up a system to make sure all returns are legitimate. They say social media posts advocating these schemes arent helping.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2025-01-30 12:10:28
