Any retail merchant budgets for disordered goods , shoplifting , and other losses , and Amazon is no different . But because of the mass of sales and a customer - forward insurance , the gargantuan online marketplace appears to seldom investigate claims of confused or unreceived goods , opting instead to replace or refund — no questions take . That ’s how Indiana couple Erin and Leah Finan scored $ 1.2 million in electronics .
For Amazon scammers , it ’s the oldest conjuration in the account book .
The husband and married woman duo scored “ GoPro digital cameras , Microsoft Xboxes , Samsung smartwatches , and Microsoft Surface tablets ” according to a Department of Justice press liberation from when they ( and an alleged “ fence ” named Danijel Glumac ) werecharged in May . More recently , the Finanspleaded hangdog , and now each face a maximal condemnation of 20 years in prison house .
Amazon ’s proceeds grift has been known for long time , bothwithin hacking circlesand amongsellers who have been scammed . Buyers adventure getting ban for too many wanting or defective item claim , but the Finans made “ century of false on-line identicalness ” to avoid detection , and were finally caught not by Amazon but by the Indiana State Police and the IRS .
While their plea agreement condition that the Finans will pay Amazon regaining of $ 1,218,504 , authorities said that the Finans only made $ 725,000 off the scheme due to the nature of trafficking stolen goods through a fence and across state lines .
For a ship’s company worth over $ 500 billion , the Finans ’ schema was chump change , but the case send a wider message meant to discourage the use of this trivially easy exploit .
[ DoJ , USA Today ]
AmazonJeff BezosScam
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