As a regular shopper on Amazon, I pay £95 annually for my Prime subscription. Therefore, I act promptly to any email notification warning about a price increase.
However, any emails featuring a “cancel” button are scams created by fraudsters seeking to obtain your account login and payment credentials.
In response to a recent increase in fake messages, Amazon has sent over 200 emails to alert its million global Prime members. The company aims to “protect the trust of our users by safeguarding our brand” and to “educate consumers” to prevent impersonation scams.Learn more about avoiding scams.
What does a scam look like?
Fraudulent emails may inform you of an unexpected automatic renewal of your Amazon Prime subscription (currently £95 per year or £8.99 per month in the UK).
These messages might include personal data obtained from other sources to appear legitimate, and may even feature a “Cancel Subscription” button redirecting you to a fake Amazon login page.
This isn’t the only method scammers use to exploit Amazon shoppers. Earlier this year, retailers highlighted a notable spike in UK-based phone spoofing scams, along with fake social media profiles pretending to assist with customer complaints.
What do these messages request?
These communications pressure you to act fast, urging clicks to provide personal and payment information.
Last year, Amazon helped shut down over 55,000 phishing websites and 12,000 phone numbers. Photo: Leon Neil/Getty Images
What should you do?
Avoid clicking any links in these emails. Scammers aim to steal your logins and other confidential information. You can either disregard the email or forward it to amazon.co.uk/Reportascam.
When incidents occur outside the platform, consumer reports help Amazon’s systems to identify responsible parties. Last year, over 55,000 phishing sites and 12,000 fraudulent numbers were taken down.
Amazon encourages consumers to report suspicious fraud to safeguard our accounts and assist in referring malicious actors to law enforcement.
If you want to verify your Prime membership status, access the Amazon Mobile app or navigate to Amazon.co.uk directly. Choose Prime from the main menu to check your membership status, update dates, and plan specifics.
To confirm whether a message is truly from Amazon, visit the Message Center under your account tab. Legitimate messages will be displayed there.
If you mistakenly click a dubious link, be vigilant with your credit or debit card statements for unexpected charges and report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.
To avoid falling victim to scams, Amazon recommends using the app or typing Amazon.co.uk into your browser (bookmark it for ease). Remember, the company does not ask for sensitive information outside of its website or app.
Consider enabling two-step verification for additional security. You can set this up in your account’s “Login and Security Settings” or at Amazon.co.uk/2SV. This feature will require you to enter a code each time you log in, along with your password.
Another option is to allow PassKey for signing into your account using pins that unlock your device, face, or fingerprints.
Source: www.theguardian.com
