Most times when a package comes unexpectedly, it’s a joy to receive. That wasn’t the case for a California woman who was delivered 100 packages that each contained a portable heater.
Connie Mathews said she has received about 100 space heaters in the mail at her Sacramento home. The mysterious packages started arriving in early December 2022.
“They started coming Friday, two weeks before Christmas, and every day I would get sometimes two boxes, sometimes more,” she said. “Yesterday, there were seven boxes waiting on the porch for us.”
The strange thing is that Mathews said the packages have been coming from multiple locations across the United States, including ones from Iowa and North Carolina. “The same thing over and over again. I have never ordered a portable heater. I don’t need one,” she said.
Mathews’ understanding of the situation is that her address may be erroneously listed as a return address for an Amazon space heater seller. “What happens if somebody comes back on me, saying well we sent them to your house, what did you do with it?” she said.
Back in 2018, a couple faced a similar problem. Their research determined that they were likely receiving the packages as part of a scheme to get fraudulent reviews marked as “verified” on Amazon.
Amazon did release a statement at the time, claiming: “We are investigating inquiries from consumers who have received unsolicited packages as this would violate our policies. We remove sellers in violation of our policies, withhold payments, and work with law enforcement to take appropriate action.”