Shopping on Amazon, has been popular for a long time, but particularly during the continuing pandemic shopping on Amazon has increased dramatically and with so many people shopping on Amazon, scammers are using Amazon as the basis for a variety of scams. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Amazon based scams have 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 appears to be an invoice for an Amazon Prime order, which I, of course, did not order. The phony email contains a telephone number to call if there are issues with your order and that is exactly what the scammer wants you to do, namely call them to dispute the invoice. If you call the number, you will be asked for personal information that will lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.
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. The email of the sender of this phony email has nothing to do with Amazon and is, most likely, that of someone whose email account was hacked and made a part of a botnet to send out large numbers of scam emails.
It is also noteworthy that neither your name or account number ever appears in the email.
Here is a copy of the email presently being circulated
amazon prime
Shipping Information
Date : April 06, 2022
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Dear Customer,
Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip has been order successfully.
Product Details
Apple MacBook Air Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) – Space Gray
Arrival Date April 6th to 7th
You can view more details with the Tracking Editor Track Your Package Invoice No: KUYHJ896 Total : $1148.78
Tax Collected : $97.00
Shipment Total: $1245.78
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Your order has been successfully ordered if need any changes please get in touch with us +1(866) 224-3650
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 real customer service number 888-280-4331 Never call the 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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