A famous bank robber was once asked why he robbed banks to which he responded, “because that is where the money is” which is why it is not surprising that scammers have used Amazon as the basis for a wide variety of scams due to so many people buying products through Amazon, particularly during the Coronavirus pandemic.  The latest Amazon related scam starts with an automated phone call that tells you that a purchase has been made on your Amazon account that appears to be fraudulent.  You are then prompted to press 1 on your phone to speak with an Amazon representative to discuss the apparent fraudulent charge on your account.  If you fall for the scam and press 1 to speak with an Amazon representative, you will actually be speaking with a scammer posing as an Amazon representative who will ask you to confirm the credit card number attached to your Amazon account.  Anyone providing that information will soon become a victim of identity theft and credit card fraud.

TIPS

If there is an issue with your Amazon account, Amazon will not call you on the phone.  Instead they will send you an email with your name and account number specifically included in the email.    Even if your Caller ID indicates that the call is from Amazon, you can’t trust it because through a technique called spoofing, scammers can manipulate your Caller ID to make their call to appear legitimate.  If you have a question about your Amazon account, you can either contact them through their website at https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html or call them at 1 (888) 280-4331.

For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”  Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.

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