BBB Warns of Scammers Using Amazon to Steal Personal Information

Con artists are now using a new scam posing as Amazon employees to call people and steal their personal information. (Rawpixel/Envato Elements)

The Better Business Bureau is warning of a new scam from con artists.

With COVID-19 shutting down most of the country, people are shopping online more than ever before. With more shopping also means more opportunities for con artists to take advantage and steal people’s personal information.

According to the BBB, con artists are now posing as Amazon employees to call people, claiming to need more information about their account. They’ll even go as far as disguising themselves with a familiar number or even the BBB’s number to scam people.

How the scam works is when a person picks up their phone, a recorded message will play claiming to be from Amazon, telling the person there has been an issue with their account.

The messages range from a variety of things like loss or damaged packages, fraudulent charges on the person’s account, to unfulfilled orders for a product.

These scammers will also downright ask for login credentials and even credit card information. Other types of requests can be to offer ‘help’ by remote access to the person’s computer.

To spot these scams, the BBB says to be skeptical of any emails and unsolicited calls. If there are any issues with an Amazon account, they will contact the person but will never unexpectedly offer refunds or ask to verify personal information like tax ID, bank account numbers or credit card information.

Also, Amazon will never have a person make any payments outside of their website as well as ask for remote access to a person’s device.

Any requests for a person to pay via wire transfers, prepaid debit cards, CashApp (i.e. MoneyPak, iTunes, or similar cards) are most definitely a sign of a scam.

If any one experiences any type of scam email or call from someone impersonating an Amazon employee, they are encourage to report to Amazon’s customer service. They have a department that investigates these types of frauds.

For more information about scams, visit BBB.org/PhishingScam.

If any one has received scam calls or been a victim of a scam, you can make a report to the BBB to bring awareness to others. To file a report, go to BBB.org/ScamTracker.