Amazon shoppers are being warned against a scam that could cost people tens of thousands of pounds.
The con, which the Guardian reports has already defrauded one elderly woman out of £25,000, sees innocent members of the public receiving an automatic phone call out of the blue.
The phone call tells innocent customers that they have just been charged for an Amazon Prime subscription, and then tells the victim that fraudsters have hacked into their account to authorise the payment.
The recipient is then informed that the payment can be cancelled by pressing 1.
It's been reported that there are two variations of the scam - one of which claims that by pressing 1 the victim will be connected with an 'account manager' (who is actually a fraudster), and the other which claims that doing so will provide more information.
By pressing 1, the victim is then taken to a premium phone number - a move which can see them billed a hefty amount.
Another variation of the scam sees the fraudster claiming they're a technology expert who is unable to undo the made-up 'hack' if the victim gives them access to their computer or bank account.
Responding to news of the scam, a spokesperson for Amazon advised: "The public have to subscribe to Amazon Prime themselves, and would not be automatically subscribed.
"If the public do receive this call and are worried that they were subscribed, the advice around this would be from UK Finance's 'Take Five to Stop Fraud' content."
The Amazon website's official advice reads: "If you receive a suspicious phone call claiming to be from Amazon and asking for payment or offering a refund you do not expect, please do not share any personal information, and disconnect immediately."
If you think you've been a victim of fraud, or would like some more advice on the best steps to prevent it, you can call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 , or visit the website at actionfraud.police.uk.
