Beware: ‘Amazon Uncollected Parcels’

Once again, the Facebook news flow is flooded with advertisements with many so-called “unpicked Amazon parcels” or “mystery boxes”.

Who wouldn’t want a high-quality surprise gift for little money? An iPhone, Playstation, or perhaps a TV. Displayed as “Uncollected Amazon Parcel” or “Mystery Box” for approximately €25. Hook: You never know what you’re going to get!

Mystery box ad titles are often “Amazon parcels not picked up,” “bankruptcy sales,” or “devices not picked up from Ebay and Amazon.” Often times, the images are the same across multiple ads and lead to websites that are similar to trading platforms.

There is also a false countdown that is supposed to put visitors under stress. We also see a lot of pictures of high quality products that are supposed to be packed in the mysterious box.

Mystery Box: The trick on social media

Ads on Facebook are of course particularly exciting. trick used here. Under the ads, some profiles publish that they have already received a mysterious chest. They proudly display their high quality products. This then acts as a positive review or even confirmation of the whole thing.

but that is not all! A closer look at these profiles shows that these are fake profiles or hijacked profiles from Southeast Asia, which are then posted in broken German. These profiles only have one purpose, they are meant to indicate the authenticity of these mysterious chests.

By doing so, it attracts users and establishes a kind of trust, which, however, should not stand up to reality.

Do ads live up to their promises?

Mostly not. Our cooperating partner Internet Watchlist He has already issued a warning against this method of selling. This warning states:

We cannot judge whether a mystery box can actually hold a positive surprise, because we are barely aware of the testimonials. However, one reader reported that she was sent four inferior products – eg a pair of headphones and a smartwatch, both of which are €6 each.

So we can keep the warning at this point. Apparently tricks are used in this way of working. The hoped-for high-quality products are likely to turn out to be inferior ones. So it is better to ignore the ads and comments below.