Customers have been issued a warning amid a scam that has been recently circulating involving Amazon.
The warning issued by Action Fraud said they received over two thousand reports within one week about emails from scammers claiming to be Amazon.
As a result of the increase in scams during the covid pandemic - a time where online sales have spiked - Amazon have said that the emails are classed as 'spoof or phishing' emails and are attempting to get your personal information.
The Liverpool Echo reports that these emails have been made to look like they are coming from Amazon.
If you receive an email claiming to be from Amazon, and you suspect it is a spoof or phishing e-mail, there are some things you can look out for.
These include:
- Amazon will never ask for personal information to be supplied by e-mail
- Amazon will never request to update payment information that is not linked to an Amazon order you placed or an Amazon service you subscribed to
- Go to My Orders if you aren't prompted to update your payment method on that screen, the message isn't from Amazon
Amazon advises its customers to check the real sender address and domain by clicking the sender name in the field "from".
Amazon emails will always come from an address that ends @amazon.co.uk - e.g. shipment-tracking@amazon.co.uk, auto-confirm@amazon.co.uk, no-reply@amazon.co.uk.
If you purchase from another Amazon international website, the email domain will reflect the country you are purchasing from - e.g. Amazon.de will have all communication coming from @amazon.de.
The warning reads: "Action Fraud has received over 2,000 reports in one week about fake emails purporting to be from Amazon.
"The emails claim the recipient's Amazon account has been "locked" and that they need to complete an "identity verification" process in order to unlock it.
"The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking phishing websites that are designed to steal Amazon login credentials, as well as personal and financial information.
"Your bank, or any other official organisation, won't ask you to share personal information over email or text.
"If you need to check that it's a genuine message, contact them directly. Spotted a suspicious email? Forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) - report@phishing.gov.uk."
