Amazon’s incredible popularity has not escaped scammers who tie many scams to Amazon including the phishing email copied below that can prompt the theft of personal information leading to identity theft from unwary victims. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Amazon based scams increased 500% in the last year I have warned you many times over the years about scammers who send various types of phishing emails which purport to be from Amazon attempting to lure you into either clicking on links which can download malware, such as ransomware or providing personal information that can be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
I recently received an Amazon phishing email that is copied below. The email below is typical of many of those presently circulating. The latest Amazon phishing scam starts with an email that appears to come from Amazon informing you that there are issues with your credit card and that your account has been frozen and will remain frozen until you provide information to verify the account. Obviously anyone receiving such an email would certainly be concerned and might be lured into clicking on the link provided in the email (which I have disarmed) to remedy the situation.
This particular phishing email is very sophisticated. The grammar is relatively good without glaring errors and the logo used appears legitimate, but it is very simple to counterfeit a legitimate appearing logo. Often a telltale sign that the email is a part of a scam is that the email address of the sender has absolutely nothing to do with Amazon and that was the situation in this case. All legitimate Amazon emails end in amazon.com. In addition, if you hovered your mouse over the link provided you would see that where it would send you had no relation to Amazon.
Here is a copy of the email presently being circulated
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𝖡𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖨𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖨𝗌𝗌𝗎𝖾𝗌
𝖧𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗈 *********@aol.com,
𝖶𝖾 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖺 𝗍𝖾𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝖽𝗎𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖺 𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗎𝖾.
𝖣𝗎𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖺 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖻𝗅𝖾𝗆 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖽 , 𝗐𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗎𝗇𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗅.
𝖳𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖼𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝖻𝗎𝗍𝗍𝗈𝗇 𝖻𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖼𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍.
𝖳𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗎𝖾, 𝗉𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗇𝖺𝗆𝖾, 𝖺𝖽𝖽𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗍𝖾𝗅𝖾𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗇𝗎𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝗀𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗉𝖺𝗒𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗈𝖽 𝖨𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗅𝗒 𝗆𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗆𝖺𝗒 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗎𝗉𝖽𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗎𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒.
𝖶𝖾 𝖺𝗉𝗉𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗉𝖺𝗍𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗌.
𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗇.
𝖲𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗅𝗒,
𝖠𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗈𝗇
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𝖲𝖾𝗋𝗏𝗂𝖼𝖾𝗌. 𝖨𝗇𝖼. 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗎𝖻𝗌𝗂𝖽𝗂𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝖠𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗈𝗇.𝖼𝗈𝗆. 𝖨𝗇𝖼. 𝖠𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗈𝗇.𝖼𝗈𝗆 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗋𝖾𝗀𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗋𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝗈𝖿 𝖠𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗈𝗇.𝖼𝗈𝗆, 𝖨𝗇𝖼. 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗆𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗎𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝖠𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗈𝗇 𝖲𝖾𝗋𝗏𝗂𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝖨𝗇𝖼. 𝟦𝟣𝟢 𝖳𝖾𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖠𝗏𝖾. 𝖭𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗁. 𝖲𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾. 𝖶𝖠 𝟫𝟪𝟣𝟢𝟫-𝟧𝟤𝟣𝟢
TIPS
While this is a very legitimate appearing email that uses the Amazon logo and is written with acceptable grammar and punctuation, it is clearly a scam. Never click on a link in an email or text message or provide personal information unless you have confirmed that the email or text message is legitimate. The telephone number to call if you suspect Amazon related fraud is 866-216-1075 or you can call their customer service number 888-280-4331 Never call telephone numbers that appears in phishing emails.
Also, because any of us can be scammed, it is a good idea to use dual factor authentication whenever possible to protect your various accounts so that even if someone actually had your password they would not be able to access your account. In order to set up dual factor authentication for your Amazon account use this link. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3PWZPU52FKN7PW4
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