Amazon shoppers have been issued an urgent warning about a scam that could see them unknowingly give up their bank details.
The online retailer has seen massive success over the course of the pandemic, with most customers using the website at least once per month.
As a result, millions of people will receive regular emails from the company — giving scammers an opportunity to fool customers.
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As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Action Fraud — the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime — received 2,000 reports in a single week from people who received fake emails claiming to be from the retail giant.
It is therefore important that shoppers are able to differentiate a scam message and a legitimate correspondence.
The fraud watchdog said: "Action Fraud has received over 2,000 reports in one week about fake emails purporting to be from Amazon.
"The emails claim the recipient's Amazon account has been "locked" and that they need to complete an "identity verification" process in order to unlock it.
"The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking phishing websites that are designed to steal Amazon login credentials, as well as personal and financial information.
"Your bank, or any other official organisation, won't ask you to share personal information over email or text.
"If you need to check that it's a geniune message, contact them directly. Spotted a suspicious email? Forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) - report@phishing.gov.uk."
How do I know if an e-mail is from Amazon?
In an effort to help customers avoid giving their bank details to fraudsters, Amazon has issued the following guidance:
Spoof or phishing emails are fraudulent emails attempting to get your personal information.
They are generally made to look like they are coming from Amazon. If you receive an e-mail claiming to be from Amazon, and you suspect it is a spoof or phishing e-mail, here are some things you can look out for:
- Amazon will never ask for personal information to be supplied by e-mail.
- Amazon will never request to update payment information that is not linked to an Amazon order you placed or an Amazon service you subscribed to.
Go to My Orders. If you aren't prompted to update your payment method on that screen, the message isn't from Amazon.
Amazon advises its customers to check the real sender address and domain by clicking the ender name in the field "from".
Amazon e-mails will always come from an address that ends @amazon.co.uk (e.g. shipment-tracking@amazon.co.uk, auto-confirm@amazon.co.uk, no-reply@amazon.co.uk).
If you purchase from another Amazon international website, the e-mail domain will reflect the country you are purchasing from (e.g. Amazon.de will have all communication coming from @amazon.de.)
