Even the most tech-savvy person can get caught up in a phone scam. If you’re an Amazon user, here’s a scam to look out for.
Amazon is the largest retailer in the world. With more than 310 million active users, it’s no wonder scammers think they can take advantage of at least a small percentage of these customers.
What started as a commonplace phone scam seems to be getting more sophisticated, making it harder for people to detect what’s real and what’s fake.
Scammers are getting too legit
In a viral video with more than 1.6 million views, TikToker Molly (@askmollybeauty) says she was scammed by a fake Amazon representative.
“I’m normally really, really savvy when it comes to scammers,” Molly says in the clip, noting that she’s vigilant about deleting strange texts and emails. But this time around, they were just too clever, Molly claims.
She explains that she got a call from a call center abroad claiming to be part of Amazon’s support team. Just when Molly was going to hang up on her, the woman urged her not to.
The alleged representative said that Molly’s account was one of many that was compromised. She told her, “Before you hang up on me and think this is a scam, please just go into your Amazon shopping basket and just look.”
What’s inside her Amazon cart?
The woman told Molly to check if there were iPhone 16s in her shopping basket or recent orders. At first, there weren’t any, but when she refreshed the page, they were. Eight expensive iPhones that she didn’t order were in her shopping cart.
“I’m frantically deleting them, and as I’m deleting them, more are being added,” Molly says.
That’s when she started to panic. “What do I do? What do I do?” she asked the fake rep.
The woman told her she would send a one-time code, which Moly clicked, as part of the process to reset and secure her account.
“All I was thinking about was getting these iPhones out of my shopping basket,” Molly says.
Then, a tiny miracle happened. Molly’s dog started barking, and Molly asked the woman to repeat herself because she couldn’t hear her over the dog.
“Will you just do it?” the woman said to her, irritated.
That’s when Molly peeped that something was off, and the woman hung up.
“As she hung up on me, all of the iPhones disappeared out of my Amazon shopping basket,” Molly recalls.
“Obviously, I’m now worried sick,” Molly says, adding that she’s changed her account info, canceled her cards, and urged people not to fall for it as she did.
What did Amazon say?
In a follow-up video, Molly says that Amazon told her that the scam is targeted at the Amazon app specifically (not the desktop website) since bad actors can hack into the app through your internet network.
“It was because I saw all these mobile phones that were in my account that made it look really genuine,” Molly shares.
Molly adds that it seems the scammers would never order the phones. Instead, they’re a decoy tactic to gain the person’s trust before asking for credit card info or getting them to click a link or download something fraudulent,
She notes that the BBC did an investigation on this very matter, and based on her comments section, it seems the scam is ramping back up ahead of the holidays.
Molly says the experience has made her “really paranoid.”
“I have changed my Apple ID,” Molly says. “I have changed all my passwords.”
Molly continues to list the actions she took to reduce the risk of her information being stolen and accounts being hacked: “I have taken any cards out of my Amazon, obviously. I’ve rung up my bank and … I’ve deleted all my cookies, all my website history, all my website data.”
She also urges Amazon to put something on their website warning people of the common scams they’re seeing for the holiday season.
“I think as a multibillion [dollar] company … you have got the duty to raise more awareness on this,” Molly says.
How is this scam evolving?
The Better Business Bureau first reported this scam at the beginning of 2021, Screen Rant reported.
While the language of the scam changes—and in Molly’s case, the scammers get more technically proficient with hacking—the process is still pretty much the same.
Consumers receive a phone call from Amazon letting them know about suspicious activity on their account, usually about a large transaction like an iPhone. The fake Amazon representative then offers to “protect” the person’s account and, in this process, requests credit card information or remote access to their computer. The latter allows the person to pull a whole host of your personal information.
Does Amazon call customers?
It’s possible but highly unlikely, especially for a situation like a large or suspicious transaction.
Instead, Amazon is more likely to send you an email. If they ask you to contact them directly, do so through the information on Amazon’s website. For the most part, this will lead you to a virtual chat with a customer service rep.
The Daily Dot did a thorough search, and we didn’t see a public phone number on their site.
Things to look out for
Here are a few common tactics scammers use that you should be aware of:
- Urging that you take immediate action. They want to use your heightened emotions, like fear and worry, to push you to act without thinking.
- Sending you a link. You don’t want to click any foreign links, especially one that takes you to any place other than the official Amazon site.
- Amazon will never call you about something like winning a lottery prize or getting a credit card loan.
- A legit customer service rep won’t ever tell you to keep anything a secret or claim that you’re going to be arrested for account fraud.
What to do if you fall for an Amazon scam?
If you suspect your Amazon account has been compromised, you should immediately change your password. And if you think your identity was stolen, complete an FTC identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov.
@askmollybeauty #fraud #amazon #scammeralert #scam #beware #pleasegoviral #christmasscam #awareness #amazon #thieves #page #pageforyou @Amazon ♬ original sound – Askmollybeauty
The Daily Dot reached out to Molly for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Amazon via email.
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