personal finance

Amazon Prime scam warning: Police warn Brits to watch out for worrying scam tactic


While scam attempts may be something many people think they well are aware of, when it comes to being targeted, the tactics can seem very convincing. Sadly, the impact can be devastating – both emotionally and financially. In a bid to help reduce the risk of members of the public falling victim to scams, Action Fraud has warned about an Amazon Prime scam that has cost victims more than £1million.

The scam involves victims receiving an automated phone call, informing them that they have been charged for an Amazon Prime subscription.

They are then told to “press one” in order to cancel the transaction.

Upon doing this, the victim is then directed to a fraudster who is in fact posing as an Amazon customer service representative.

This scammer then tells the victim that their subscription was purchased fraudulently, and that remote access to their computer is necessary, claiming this is required in order to fix a “security flaw” to prevent it from occurring again.

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Then, the victim is asked to download a remote access application – granting the scammer access to their computer.

The software can then be mis-used by the criminal to monitor the victim logging onto their online banking account.

Worryingly, this can allow the fraudster to see the victim’s personal and financial details.

There are other variants of the time, and this includes fraudsters stating that the recipient is eligible for a refund for an “unauthorised transaction” on their Amazon account.

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Action Fraud has said it has received more than 500 reports bout an automated call scam impersonating Amazing.

A warning was issued back in January this year, as well as October 2018, and this week, Dorset Police shared a reminder to the public about being aware of this scam.

The tweet read: “Please be aware of this scam. We’re sharing this advisory on behalf our colleagues at Action Fraud.”

Dorst Police also directed Twitter users to the “Scams, Fraud & Cyber-crime” section of its website for more information about Fraud.

On Twitter, a number of people have shared their own experience with Amazon Prime scams.

Responding to the warning issued by Dorset Police about these Amazon Prime scam calls, another Twitter user penned: “I have about 10 of these calls in past 2 weeks – luckily I realised it was a scam, so did not press 1.

“I did inform Amazon who told me they had been inundated with calls regarding this.”

Someone else replied: “Just received this call today in Weymouth, thank you for highlighting!”

Writing on Twitter yesterday, one person revealed: “Next phone scam: I got an automated call this morning asking me to callback to renew Prime.

“I know it doesn’t work like that, but maybe others don’t. Phishing scam.”

Action Fraud guidance states:

Never install any software as a result of a cold call. Unsolicited request for remote access to your computer should always raise a red flag.

Always question uninvited approaches in case it’s a scam. Instead, contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.

Have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for personal or financial information. It’s easy to feel embarrassed when faced with unexpected or complex conversations. But it’s okay to stop the discussion if you do not feel in control of it.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: “We take phishing and spoofing attempts on our customers seriously, and will never call a customer for payment outside of our website.

“If a customer has concerns or receives a call they believe is not from Amazon, they can check the Amazon.co.uk help pages for guidance using the following link – https://amzn.to/2kQC5I0.”



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