On our programme on Thursday 25th November 2024, Rip Off Britain investigated the impersonation scam targeting Amazon customers- leaving some of them thousands of pounds out of pocket.

In HQ, Tom Olsen, Corporate Counsel with Customer Protection and Enforcement at Amazon, joined us to advise on how we should avoid being caught out by this type of fraud.

How the Online Shopping Basket scam works

• The scam starts with a cold call from scammers, pretending to be from Amazon, warning that your account has been hacked, and that fraudsters are trying to make big money purchases.

• The scammer will gain the trust of the victim and persuaded them to read out a One Time Passcode sent to their mobile phone. This allows the scammer access to their shopping account – to which they add a number of high value items- for example – iPhones.

• The scammer will ask you to check your Amazon account to confirm that these item have been added which then frightens the account holder into believing they have been hacked.

• The scammer will then typically claim that the bank accounts linked to the Amazon account have also been compromised, and persuade the victim to move their money to a so-called ‘safe account’. But any money transferred will instead be sent directly to the scammer.

• To help facilitate the transfer of cash, victims are often convinced to install remote access software on to their laptop, or smartphone, allowing the scammer to monitor and even control the device.

Amazon’s tips to steer clear of impersonation scams

• Always verify purchases on Amazon. If you receive a message about a purchase, do not respond or click on any link in the message; instead, log into your Amazon account or use the Amazon mobile app and confirm that it is really in your purchase history before taking any action.

• Asking for personal information. Scammers may try to persuade you to provide personal information over the phone such as addresses, payment information, account login credentials, or financial information. Amazon will not request this information over the phone or by email.

• Trust Amazon’s app and website. We will never ask for payment over the phone or email—only in our mobile app, on our website, or in one of our physical stores. We will never call and ask you to make a payment or bank transfer on another website.

• Fake websites. Scammers might persuade you to provide personal information by luring you into visiting websites that resemble Amazon.

Some red flags indicating that a website may be fake:

• Links to a website outside of the Amazon website.
• Numerical addresses such as http://123.456.789
• Misspellings or grammatical errors in the address. Legitimate Amazon websites contain ‘Amazon.co.uk’ or ‘Amazon.co.uk/support.’

Go directly to our website when seeking help with Amazon devices/services, orders or to make changes to your account.

• Be wary of false urgency. Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they’re asking.

• Don’t be pressured into buying a gift card. We will never ask you to purchase a gift card, and no legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay with gift cards.

• Contact us. If you’re ever unsure, it’s safest to stop engaging with potential scammers and contact us directly through the Amazon app or website. Do not call numbers sent over text or email or found in online search results. Remember Amazon will not ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service nor will we request payment for any customer service support.