An Indiana couple has pled guilty to charges of federal mail fraud and money laundering resulting from an elaborate scheme that fleeced Amazon out of over $1.2 million in merchandise, according to The Star Press.
Erin Finan, 38, and Leah Finan, 37, enacted their scheme by taking advantage of Amazon’s accommodating returns policy, which does not always require a broken item be sent back before a replacement is issued. Under hundreds of false identities, the couple ordered electronic goods like GoPro cameras and Samsung smartwatches, then would claim the item was damaged or not working once they received it. Amazon would issue a replacement, but they would never send back the item they reported as defective.
