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A new Amazon phone scam has surfaced that is being used to obtain personal information from unsuspecting targets.
The Amazon phone scam is the latest phishing attempt aiming to steal personal information. Scammers often use large, familiar companies in phishing scams, but usually, these are done via malicious email or text links.
Recently, there has been a large increase in phone scams.
According to Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), the scammers are using automated phone calls to tell victims that they have signed up for Amazon Prime and the cost of the subscription is either £7.99 monthly or £79 a year, The Sun reported. Victims are then given a chance to cancel the subscription by pressing “1”.
After the victim presses 1 to cancel, the scammers transfer the call to another swindler, acting as an Amazon representative.
The fraudster continues by telling the targeted individual that the subscription happened due to a security issue on Amazon’s network, according to the CTSI.
The scammers then ask the target if they can obtain remote use to their computer to resolve the data breach issues.
In turn, the fraudsters gain control of the computer and steal private personal data like financial information or passwords.
Giving remote access to anyone can easily make consumers fall prey to having personal information stolen and given to crooks who will use those financial details or passwords to help themselves to customer accounts.
There is a possibility that many people are likely to be duped by this new Amazon phone scam because a large number of people cannot identify scams when they see them.
In research done by TSB, 2,000 people were shown 20 emails and texts with 10 of them being scams, and only 18% of people identified all 10 fraudulent schemes, This Is Money reported.
The CTSI also reports there is an email scam that is similar to the Amazon phone scam.
The Amazon Prime scam sends emails to targets and states they have signed up for a subscription to Amazon music at a rate of £28.99 a month.
Of course, the targets want to cancel because this is not accurate information. Victims will click a phishing link they believe is going to give them a refund.
When the malicious link is clicked and victims contribute their payment information to get a refund, the financial details are sent to fraudsters.
Amazon Prime is a staple in many households, and nearly 7.9 million homes in the U.K. have a subscription. Over the last five years, Amazon Prime has increased in popularity by 6.7 million households.
CTSI lead officer Katherine Hart has noted that people are especially vulnerable to the Amazon phone scam right now due to the pandemic.
Hart stated that the nature of the pandemic has people staying at home and shopping for essentials online.
She urges potential victims to know that “Amazon will never cold-call customers, nor ask for remote computer access or payment over the phone. Do not give any details to the caller, and always verify directly with Amazon by logging into your official account and contacting customer support. Anyone who receives these calls or emails should report them to Action Fraud, or if in Scotland report it to Police Scotland by dialling 101.”
If you or someone you know has fallen victim to the Amazon phone scam or another scam, there are a number of ways to report it.
You can call or email Action Fraud or dial 101 to report the scam to police if in Scotland.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) can be contacted by emailing report@phishing.gov.uk. If you were targeted by the Amazon phone scam, use the spoofing@amazon.com email.
Joining Friends Against Scams or Businesses Against Scams can help you remain proactive against scams.
Have you been the victim of the Amazon phone scam or another scam during the pandemic? Tell us your story in the comments.
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13 thoughts onAmazon Scam Calls Ask Consumers to ‘Press 1’
I’m in Canada and today only I think I have received about 6 calls from this so called Amazon. While I was reading the comments here, I received another call and answered by pressing 1. So an Indian guy comes up and he told me that $700.00 was going to be debited from my account since iphone 11 had been ordered but I told him I have already received the phone from Amazon. And while we are talking someone interrupts him and he started talking in Hindi which I understand, and I got mad and started swearing he just hung up.
I too got a phone call this morning – well two actually, last one from 01488 836201. I normally hang up, or if it’s a ‘human’ on the other end, Then I am always very abusive – hang up and block their number . . . no good really as they continually change numbers. This last time I did press ‘1’ out of a perverted interest. A man named ‘Michael’ who could only just speak English, with an Indian accent, told me that someone had obtained illegal access to my account and did I use a phone or a laptop . . my laptop was already turned on . . he told me to open the browser and type in www,co,li. or somesuch address, no doubt so that he could gain access to this computer. He was very polite and very patient as I kept saying that the ‘site could not be reached’ message constantly appeared. I wasted quite a lot of his time, then simply hung up. These crooks want to gain access to the insides of your computer to steal your bank account details . . I was expecting him just to ask for my credit card details, but . . . . NO, they are far more crafty than that, constantly pretending that they are helping you – – devious devils. It’s utterly outrageous that they are given access to UK phone numbers that they then use to convince us that they are genuine and actually situated in the UK.
There is no way to stop it, and the best solution, as far as I can tell, is not to answer the phone if you don’t recognise who is calling, or if you do answer, try not to get angry – simply hang up and block their number (BT call protect). It’s important that we, the victims, don’t get our blood pressure raised. They are the scum of the Earth, and the best action is not hate, as that will burn us up inside, it is simply to ignore them, though I did like the offer to send photos of the caller’s wife in a threesome with a dog.
There’s probably a pickpocket on every tube train . . . . that’s life I’m afraid.