How the ‘bag of sugar’ scam really works

A cruel new scam is leaving shoppers horribly disappointed at the very moment they should be enjoying a new purchase.

British shoppers who have bought high-value items such as laptops, tablets and iPhones open their package to find worthless items inside – ranging from a bag of sugar or meat pies to a lump of clay.

So why are British shoppers being left with weighty but worthless items instead of what they ordered? It’s often to do with changes in returns policies on marketplaces such as Amazon, which make it far easier to return goods, online safety experts told Yahoo News.

A woman from Cornwall opened the box for a new Lenovo laptop and found three pies in the package instead, while a mother from Leeds opened a packet supposedly containing a Samsung tablet and found two packs of biscuits and a bag of sugar.

Such scams have become more common as criminals abuse ‘loopholes’ in returns policies, explained Paul Bischoff, security and privacy advocate at Comparitech.

How does the scam work?

There are various reasons a package could arrive not containing the advertised goods (including couriers stealing the contents).

But increasingly in recent years, the ‘refund’ scam is due to resellers not checking returned packages, Bischoff explained.

So a scammer buys a laptop or other expensive item, replaces it with something weighing roughly the same, the return is accepted by the seller, and then an unwitting buyer becomes the owner of a bag of sugar or a lump of clay.

Online refunds are often processed rapidly and sometimes without checking, if the parcels appear unopened.

Bischoff said: “That allows scammers to replace items they bought with something of equal weight and size, which are then re-shelved and sold to someone else.”

Why is it rising in popularity now?

The reason returns scams are happening more often is that marketplaces such as Amazon have made it easier to return items.

Due to recent rules changes, sellers on Amazon Marketplace now have two days to offer a response to a return request, or have to issue an automatic refund.

This means it is no longer the case that every return is checked before being sent out.

Bischoff said: “This scam is becoming more popular because more online marketplaces like Amazon now have decent return policies. As the volume of returns rises, the attention paid to the contents of individual returns diminishes.

“The responsibility for preventing this scam is on merchants who accept returns.”

What should you do if you fall victim?

In most cases, sellers will ship a new item without complaint in the case of a refund scam, says Chris Hauk, Consumer Privacy Champion at Pixel Privacy.

It’s best to contact the seller, rather than the platform, in first instance, although platforms such as Amazon and eBay can also help to resolve disputes.

Hauk says that most sellers will immediately either offer a refund or ship the correct items.

It helps to take photographs of a dodgy package as soon as you can, so “the burden of proof is removed from your shoulders,” Hauk said. “It is the seller’s responsibility to ensure that your package arrives safely, promptly, and last but not least, correctly. If you are a victim of this kind of scam, immediately contact the seller.”

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