Amazon-Related Scams

Because so many people shop on Amazon, scammers love to pretend to be Amazon. A message about an order or your account seems believable when you really do have an Amazon account — and that’s exactly what scammers count on. Here’s how these scams work and how to stay safe.

Three things Amazon will never do

Amazon will never ask you to pay outside its website or app — no bank transfers, payment apps, cryptocurrency or wire transfers.
Amazon will never ask for remote access to your computer or phone.
Amazon will never ask you to pay with gift cards. Amazon gift cards can only be used to shop on Amazon, so anyone who asks you to buy gift cards and read them the numbers is a scammer.

If a message or caller asks for any of these, it’s a scam — no matter how official it looks or sounds.

Common Amazon scams

Fake order or charge alerts. An email, text or automated call says a large purchase — often an expensive phone or TV — was made on your account, and gives you a number to call or a link to click if it wasn’t you. The “support agent” then asks for your password or card details, or for remote access to “fix” it.
Fake refunds. The scammer says you’re owed a refund, connects to your computer to “process” it, then claims they refunded too much by mistake and pressures you to send the difference back — usually in gift cards.
“Your Prime membership renewed” calls. A caller claims your membership renewed at a high price and offers to cancel it — if you give them your payment information.
Account problem messages. Emails or texts say your account is locked, suspended or has a payment problem, with a link to a fake Amazon sign-in page that steals your password.
Off-Amazon payment requests. A “seller” contacts you directly and offers a discount if you pay through a payment app or bank transfer instead of Amazon checkout. You lose Amazon’s purchase protection and usually never get the item.
Fake support numbers. Scammers place fake “Amazon customer service” numbers in search results and ads. If you search for a phone number to call, you may reach a scammer instead of Amazon.

How to stay safe

Check for yourself. If you get a message about an order or your account, don’t use its links or phone numbers. Open the Amazon app, or type amazon.com into your browser yourself, and look at Your Orders and your account. If there’s a real problem, you’ll see it there.
Contact Amazon through Amazon. To reach customer service, go to Help or Customer Service in the Amazon app or on amazon.com. Don’t search for a phone number online.
Read web addresses carefully. The real site’s address is amazon.com followed by a slash, as in https://www.amazon.com/…. Scam addresses often contain “amazon” but belong to a different site — for example amazon.com.account-help.ru or amaz0n-support.com.
Pay only through Amazon checkout, never by payment app, bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift card.
Never let anyone connect to your computer because of an unexpected call, email or text claiming to be from Amazon.
Turn on two-step verification for your Amazon account in its login and security settings, so a stolen password alone isn’t enough to get in.

If you think you’ve been scammed

Change your Amazon password right away — and the password of any other account that used the same one — then turn on two-step verification.
If you shared card or bank details, call your bank or card company using the number on your card. If you paid with gift cards, contact the gift card company immediately.
If you let someone connect to your computer, disconnect it from the internet and have it checked before using it for anything sensitive. Our article Scams and Scammers – Web Browsers explains what to do.
Report it to Amazon through the “Report a Scam” page in Amazon’s Help section, and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Need help?

If you’re not sure whether a message is genuine, or you think a scammer has had access to your computer or accounts, call PSA at (707) 506-6802 or send us a message.