Ahead of Prime Day, online scammers posing as Amazon employees: Report
Amazon and the BBB share five tips to help avoid scammers.
As Amazon Prime Day and Target Deal Day approach, the Better Business Bureau is out with a new warning about scammers aiming to steal your personal information.
In a new scam alert released Thursday, the BBB said that con artists are posing as Amazon employees and calling people, claiming to need information about their account.
According to the BBB, the caller will say there's a problem with your account, or a similar story to that degree, like a failed credit card payment or a lost package. They will then ask you for your credit card and account details to access your personal information. They may also request remote access to your computer to "help" solve the problem.
In response to recent scams, Amazon has released a statement on their website about suspicious correspondence and said that the company would "never ask for personal information."
"Amazon will never send you an unsolicited message that asks you to provide sensitive personal information," the company wrote on their website. "Amazon will never ask you to make a payment outside of our website and will never ask you for remote access to your device."
The company pointed out that some of the scams have also come in the form of e-mails and text messages that contain links to websites that look like they may be from Amazon.com, but aren't, along with an order confirmation for an item you didn't purchase or an attachment to an order confirmation, requests to update payment information and even attachments to install software on your device.
But it's not only Amazon that scammers are posing as.
The callers sometimes show up as legitimate numbers from the BBB and other organizations, according to the BBB.
To help crack down on these scams, Amazon is urging customers to report any suspicious correspondence.
They've also teamed up with BBB to help consumers catch scams. Read on for some of their advice:
Be skeptical of email and unsolicited calls
According to the BBB, some departments at Amazon will call customers, but they'll never ask to disclose personal information.
Don't make payments outside the website
Online retailers will never ask you to make a payment outside their website or ask for remote access to your device.
Ignore unsolicited messages
The BBB said Amazon will never send you unsolicited messages that ask you to provide sensitive personal information like your tax ID, bank account number, or credit card information.
Ignore calls
The BBB said scammers try to get their victims to act before they think by creating a sense of urgency, so don't fall for their tactics.
Report it
If you've fallen victim to a scam, the BBB urges people to report it. If customers receive questionable emails or calls from a person impersonating an Amazon employee, they should report them to Amazon customer service, where they'll investigate the complaint and take action if warranted.
And as always, if you've fallen victim to another scam, always file a report on BBB.org/ScamTracker.
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