Amazon scam emails, which could cost you thousands, have skyrocketed by 500 percent since last year — so how can you watch out for them?
The online retail giant’s popularity has made it a prime target for scammers and cybercriminals trying to take advantage of unsuspecting customers.
And as Amazon’s security improves, so does the sophistication of scammers – but there are some red flags that can help you spot them.
The latest scheme involves an official-looking email from “Amazon” being sent to customers with fake receipts or shipping confirmations for an order they never placed.
Users can then click the shady link to learn more about their alleged order – leading them to believe they need to update their account details.
A similar trick notifies users that there is a “problem” with their Amazon account or payment method – which in turn lures victims into resubmitting their personal information to try to fix the problem.
But innocently calling the “hotline” or clicking on the shady link is actually part of the plan to trick you into revealing your private personal information.
So if you’re guessing the suspicious-looking email you just received for the second time, these three simple checks can help you determine its authenticity.
Checking for suspicious language or grammatical and spelling mistakes is an easy way to determine if the message is genuine, since a genuine Amazon request wouldn’t have one.
If the email asks you to “click here” to confirm your details or payment method, do not do so.
Amazon will never email asking users to perform these actions and this will likely be a scam.
Finally, checking the sender’s full email address to make sure it’s from a verified Amazon account is a foolproof way to confirm or disprove your doubts.
In the US, any email address that doesn’t end in “@amazon.com” is fake.
It is always best to access your Amazon account yourself to check from there rather than clicking on fake links.
Reports of Amazon scams have increased by a whopping 500 percent since June 2020, according to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alert.
And if you’re still unsure, contact Amazon directly via email or phone to confirm if they’ve tried to contact you.
fraud sign
Alex Hamerstone, director of security consulting firm TrustedSec, told Reader’s Digest, “An Amazon email scam can look exactly like a genuine Amazon email, or it can be poorly crafted and everything in between.
“But the core scams are usually pretty similar, as are the risks, the ways to prevent them and the recommended response.
“The aim of this is to trick you into believing that you need to update your account information, and usually give the scammer your credit card or bank details.”
If you’re fooled by this trick, you could lose thousands in cash – or even more – as email scams often target multiple accounts at once.
Clicking on the malicious link could install a virus or other malicious software on your computer, thereby breaching further security barriers on your device.
“These scams are all aimed at your money,” adds Chris Pierson, CEO of cybersecurity company BlackCloak.
“The cybercriminals want either access to your account and ability to purchase items, or access to your credit card – either of which can cause you financial damage.”
But if you fall victim to Amazon scammers, log into your account, change the password and enable two-factor authentication.
Hopefully, if you select the option to log out of your account on all devices, the scammer will no longer be able to access your data.
This story originally appeared on The sun and is reproduced here with permission.
Comments are closed.