RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Amazon customers, beware! With more and more people ordering from Amazon during the coronavirus pandemic, scammers are finding ways to cash in on your orders.
The Better Business Bureau said that con artists are posing as Amazon employees and calling about orders. Sometimes they are even using the BBB’s phone number to do it.
According to BBB, the scam is a prerecorded message claiming to be from Amazon and stating that there is a problem with your account.
The message ranges from “there’s a fraudulent charge on your Prime card” to “you have an unfulfilled order for an iPhone 10,” the BBB said.
The scammers will ask for credit card information, account login details or they will ask for remote access to your computer.
To protect yourselves from these fake Amazon calls, here’s what you need to do:
Be skeptical of email and unsolicited calls. Some departments at Amazon will call customers, but Amazon will never ask you to disclose or verify sensitive personal information or offer you a refund you do not expect. Amazon will never ask you to make a payment outside of its website and will never ask you for remote access to your device.
Ignore unsolicited messages that ask for personal information. Amazon will also never send you an unsolicited message that asks you to provide sensitive personal information, such as your tax ID, bank account number or credit card information.
Ignore calls for immediate action. Scammers try to get you to act before you think by creating a sense of urgency. Don’t fall for it.
Beware of requests to pay via wire transfer, prepaid debit card or CashApp (such as MoneyPak, iTunes or similar cards). These are almost always a sign of fraud.
Report it to Amazon. Any customer that receives a questionable email or call from a person impersonating an Amazon employee should report it to Amazon customer service for them to investigate.
If you’ve been the victim of another scam, file a report at BBB.org/ScamTracker.
