Shopping on Amazon
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Tips for Staying Safe on Amazon.com
If you buy something on Amazon.com,* you’re not necessarily buying directly from Amazon.com.
What You Should Know:
- In addition to selling your products from its store, the retail giant also connects buyers to a wide array of third-party sellers.
- Many, if not most, are likely legitimate sellers, but beware that scammers are lurking in the marketplace.
- The scammer will try to get you to make your purchase outside of the normal Amazon.com process.
What You Should Do:
- Only pay for items you are considering through Amazon.com on the Amazon.com website.
- Read reviews. If a seller has tried to scam someone, chances are good its reviews will reflect that.
- If you run into trouble with a third-party seller on Amazon.com, make use of the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee, which guarantees purchases from third-party sellers when payment is made on the Amazon.com website.
Amazon Scams
Like Apple scams, fraudsters will call and email impersonating Amazon in an attempt to collect their credentials and PII.
Fake Phone Calls:
SCAM: You may receive a call from an automated voice recording alerting you that a large purchase was made on your Amazon account. To resolve this matter, you are asked to dial “1” to be connected to Amazon technical support. Once connected, the fraudster will ask you for your name, phone number, credit card information, passwords, etc.
WHAT TO DO: Do not provide any account information. Amazon will never call you unless you have initiated contact first or ask for your passwords and credit card information.
Fake Amazon Emails:
SCAM: Amazon generally contacts customers via email. Fraudsters attempt to trick students by sending out phishing emails imitating Amazon support. These emails will claim there was a billing problem or a suspicious login on your account.
WHAT TO DO: Click “Reply” to reveal the real sender's email address. Do not click the links provided in the email or download the document files – this is their way to phish you or remote control your device.
Common Amazon-impersonation scams
Sometimes the criminals will use a mix of the scams described below.
- The fake order or delivery. You’ll receive a message that there’s a problem with your shipment and you need to pay a fee to straighten it out. The message may include a link that — like so many delivery scams involving UPS or the U.S. Postal Service — if clicked, might download malware onto your computer or lead you to a request for personal information. Or you may be contacted by phone, and the criminal will request your password, your payment information, or other sensitive data. They may suggest that there’s a technical problem and ask to take control of your computer to fix it (see “Tech support scam” below).
- Suspicious purchase. This common scam accounted for two-thirds of the fraud reports Amazon received globally last year. The criminals call to confirm your purchase of what’s usually a big-ticket item.
- Membership renewal scams. Many people don’t remember when their annual payment for Amazon Prime is due, so when customers are told it’s time to pay up, it seems plausible.
- Tech support scams. Criminals incorporate the Amazon name in this extremely common scam, in which you’re told there’s a problem with your account. The scammer may then tell you, ‘We have someone who can remote onto your computer and take care of it for you.’ this makes it possible for the scammer to make charges or steal your personal information, which can be sold on the dark web or used to perpetrate other crimes. If you use similar passwords for different accounts or if you are logged into a bank account, the scammer can do a lot of damage.
- Employment scam. Criminals will pretend to be Amazon job recruiters, offering nonexistent work-from-home jobs. They’ll tell you, “We need you to set up an account and purchase this subscription to get an interview,”. Or once you’re offered a job, they may ask for a start-up fee or tell you that you need to buy a “starter kit” with Amazon.com gift cards.
- Publishing scam. Scammers tout publishing services to authors. The scammers’ websites are designed to lure authors into paying a fee to publish, and then deliver substandard services or no services at all.
How to protect yourself from Amazon impostor scams
Amazon’s advice includes:
- For any questions related to an order, always check your order history on Amazon.com or via the Amazon Shopping app. Only legitimate purchases will appear in your order history.
- Do not click on any links in an email or provide your information without authenticating the email or verifying the link. Visit the Message Center, which displays a log of authentic communications sent from Amazon.
- Know that Amazon will never:
- Request that you purchase a gift card for any service.
- Ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service.
- Ask you to pay for something over the phone.
- If you’re trying to engage with Amazon, make sure you’re logged in to your account on the site or app. Don’t google Amazon to get its site: Scammers’ fake Amazon sites might come up in search results. Instead, type Amazon.com in your browser, or use the Amazon app on your phone.
Other tips for avoiding all kinds of scams:
- Slow down. If you receive an out-of-the-blue communication from Amazon (or anyone) that suggests you need to take immediate action due to an urgent issue, take a breath. Stop and think. Scammers try to get victims into a heightened emotional state — otherwise, thinking calmly, you might be more likely to hang up the phone or delete their “urgent” message. Anyone who’s rushing you into paying or giving information is almost certainly a scammer.
- You can’t always trust your caller ID. Remember that scammers can spoof numbers, so don’t assume a call is from Amazon just because your caller ID says it is.
- Use hard-to-guess, original passwords for everything. Always make sure you have different passwords for all of your accounts. This is the golden rule of fraud prevention. When possible, use multifactor authentication, such as facial ID and a code sent to your phone.
Where to report Amazon-impostor scams