Beware of Amazon scams looking for an opening to steal your info
Many of us are familiar with the online shopping platform, Amazon. Amazon offers a monumental product range and inventory, enabling people to buy just about anything, including clothing, beauty supplies, gourmet food, jewelry, books, movies, electronics, pet supplies, furniture, toys, garden supplies and household goods. Amazon has 310 million customers worldwide with 90 million of these active global customers being Amazon Prime members. With such a heavy demand of shoppers on this platform, it gives scammers an opening to steal your information.
Amazon scams are a type of impersonation scam in which fraudsters pose as Amazon representatives and trick you into sharing your personal identifiable information (PII), sending money or giving up access to your Amazon account. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Data Spotlight, over 96,000 people reported being targeted on the platform.
To help you avoid Amazon scams, the Better Business
Bureau offers these tips:
Avoid doing business with a seller who directs you off the Amazon website. A legitimate Amazon seller transaction will never occur off the Amazon website.
Don’t send money by cash, wire transfer, Western Union, PayPal, MoneyGram or other means, including by Amazon Payments.
Beware of lookalike websites. Look for websites with HTTPS in the URL and have a lock symbol on the address bar. Watch for bad grammar and read online reviews from past customers.
Be wary of emails asking you to provide account information, such as your email address and password combination. Amazon will never ask you for personal information.
Don’t click on suspicious links in a text message or email.
Ensure websites use the correct business name spelling, have legitimate contact information and customer service numbers.
Be wary of messages or advertisements promising free items or gift cards.
Resist the pressure to act immediately.
Don’t be tempted by a seemingly great deal. Scammers often trick shoppers by offering the most popular products at low prices.
Stick to shopping on the official Amazon app or website.
Protect your device by installing antivirus software.
Regularly change your password on the platform to avoid unauthorized users from accessing your Amazon account.