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Mystery packages sent to people's homes containing products they haven't ordered has exposed a new online scam trend.<br>The scam has emerged in south-east  where residents have found various parcels on their doorsteps which have been addressed to them correctly but contain items they've never ordered. <br>The scam, called 'brushing', boomed during the  pandemic as online shopping exploded in popularity.<br>Brushing sees online vendors 'selling' their products to themselves but shipping them to a real person's address.<br>Vendors then use the recipient's name and details to leave a legitimate-looking review of the product in their online store and positively distort their store's reviews.<br>Vendors have to ship the real product to skirt around fail-safes on many e-commerce sites which aim to prevent sellers from leaving false reviews.<br>      (image:  )    Queenslanders have reported a bizarre online shopping scam which sees mystery packages turning up on their doorsteps with products they haven't ordered<br>It has confused residents across Brisbane, many of whom took to social media groups to share their bizarre mail. <br>'I received two rings in the mail ...  I didn't order them but it was addressed to me with correct name and address? Is this some sort of scam?' asked one south-east Queenslander.<br>North Brisbane man David Edwards told local media he'd recently received four packages on separate occasions.<br>'They all contained different items, the first one we sent back, the second had a pink wig and some Halloween goth style temporary tattoos,' he told the Sunday Mail.<br>'The third was some lacy glove type things and some jewellery, and the fourth that arrived yesterday had a piercing kit.'<br>Vendors usually send light and low-end products from their stores to unsuspecting victims. <br>      (image:  )    In the scam, online vendors send out their cheapest products in the post for free in order to be able to leave good reviews on their e-commerce stores <br>      (image:  )    Cyber security expert Ryan Ko (above) said that while the scam may seem harmless, it can lead to identity theft<br>Typically, the scammers find or purchase the victim's details following data breaches.<br>Scammers use personal information including your name, photo and mailing address to make their 'brushing' scam look authentic.<br>Mr Edwards was one of the millions of Optus customers whose data was breached just last month however, has been receiving the packages since the middle of the year and assumes he was the victim of another breach.<br>  RELATED ARTICLES                  Share this article Share    UQ Cyber Security director Professor Ryan Ko had a warning for anyone who has been a victim of the seemingly innocuous scam.<br>'If you're a victim of a brushing scam this is the first warning that your data could be used for other types of identity theft,' he told the paper.<br>