BBC One – Scamming Britain

In our show on Thursday 25 November 2024, Rip Off Britain investigated the identity theft scam targeting Amazon customers, leaving some of them thousands of pounds out of pocket.

At headquarters, Tom Olsen, Amazon’s customer protection and enforcement counsel, joined us to advise us on how we should avoid being surprised by this type of fraud.

How the online shopping cart scam works

• The scam begins with a cold call from scammers, pretending to be from Amazon, warning you that your account has been hacked and that the scammers are trying to make large purchases.

• The scammer will gain the victim’s trust and persuade them to read a one-time passcode sent to their cell phone. This allows the scammer access to their shopping account – to which they add a number of high-value items – for example iPhones.

• The scammer will ask you to verify your Amazon account to confirm that these items have been added, which will then scare the account holder into thinking that they have been hacked.

• The scammer will then typically claim that the bank accounts linked to the Amazon account have also been compromised and will persuade the victim to transfer their money to a “secure account”. But any money transferred will be sent directly to the scammer.

• To facilitate the transfer of money, victims are often convinced to install remote access software on their laptop or smartphone, allowing the scammer to monitor and even control the device.

Amazon’s Tips for Avoiding Identity Theft Scams

• Always check purchases on Amazon. If you receive a message regarding a purchase, do not respond or click on any links in the message; Instead, sign in to your Amazon account or use the Amazon mobile app and confirm that it is in your purchase history before taking any action.

• Request personal information. Scammers may try to persuade you to provide personal information over the phone, such as addresses, payment information, account login credentials, or financial information. Amazon will not request this information over the phone or email.

• Trust the Amazon app and website. We will never ask for payment over the phone or email, only on our mobile app, on our website or in one of our physical stores. We will never call you to ask you to make a payment or bank transfer to another website.

• Fake websites. Scammers can persuade you to provide personal information by tricking you into visiting websites similar to Amazon.

Some red flags that a website may be fake:

• Links to a website outside of Amazon’s website.
• Digital addresses such as http://123.456.789
• Spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in the address. Legitimate Amazon websites contain “Amazon.co.uk” or “Amazon.co.uk/support”.

Go directly to our website when looking for help with Amazon devices/services, ordering, or making changes to your account.

• Beware of false urgency. Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they are asking.

• Don’t let yourself be pressured into buying a gift card. We will never ask you to purchase a gift card, and no legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay with gift cards.

• Contact us. If in doubt, it’s safest to stop working with potential scammers and contact us directly through the Amazon app or website. Do not call numbers texted or emailed or found in online search results. Please remember that Amazon will not ask you to download or install software to connect with customer service, nor will we ask for payment for any customer service assistance.