As Amazon Prime Day – an annual 48-hour sales event organized by online retail giant Amazon – winds down, experts urge consumers to be wary of potential scams.
According to the BBB, scams such as email phishing “increase during busy shopping times, such as Prime Day or Black Friday,” and people making several purchases may lose track of what they bought as well as where they shopped, especially online.
“Amazon is a favorite for scammers throughout the year,” said the Detroit Free Press in a recent report. Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network data from July 2021 through June cited by the outlet showed that nearly one in five people who reported a business impersonation scam said the scammers pretended to be from Amazon.
This FTC data also found that at least 65,976 people reported being targeted by Amazon impersonators, and 5,411 people said they lost money. Last year the FTC report described Amazon as “a runaway favorite for scammers,” and said that from July 2020 through last June about one in three people who reported a business impersonator said the scammer claimed to be Amazon.
Pete Nicoletti, Chief Information Security Officer with cyber security firm Check Point, recently told WRAL that “scammers are stepping up their attacks,” around prime Day and recommended that consumers be careful to protect their information.
“We’re seeing a 40% up-tick, week over week, in phishing. And we’re seeing over 2,000 fake domains being registered in the past week,” he told the outlet. Nicoletti said that hundreds of millions of phishing emails are sent around Prime Day, accounting for 85% of scams related to the sales event.
Some tricks scammers use include creating a sense of urgency in their emails as well as emails disguised to look like they are from reputable sites, he added.
“They’ll get just hundreds of people clicking on them," Nicoletti explained, “and that’s all they’ll need for their campaign to be successful.”
Scammers are also looking for information such as passwords, which they might use to attempt logins to hundreds of sites. To avoid being scammed, Nicoletti recommends deleting unfamiliar emails and logging into Amazon through the official site or app.
Here is a list of tips to avoid scams from both the BBB and Check Point:
· Don’t click on emails with phrases such as “package delivery status” or “we owe you a credit” or some other “urgent” problem.
· Use multi-factor authentication
· Set up your accounts to notify you of changes
· Don’t reuse passwords
· Make sure your computer is secure
· Beware of fake lookalike websites – check URLs as well as spelling and grammar to confirm legitimate sites
· Be wary of photos, as they can easily be stolen off other sites
· Make sure websites are secure by looking for “HTTPS” in the URL
· Be especially careful purchasing sought-after products and products sold out on other sites
· Pay with a credit card rather than digital wallet apps, prepaid money cards or non-traditional payment methods so you can dispute the charge if needed
· Even after paying, remain alert about scams such as Amazon support scam calls
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