I received a call with a recorded message telling me my Amazon Prime membership was being automatically renewed and £39 would be debited from my account. I am not a Prime member and do not want to join. Is this a known scam?
RM, London
I have been receiving those same calls which invite you to “press option one” if you do not wish to renew. The robotic voice and appalling recording quality are enough to show it’s a scam, but people are still being taken in. One elderly woman was defrauded of £25,000 last month after pressing option one.
A scammer, posing as a customer service operative, told her that her Prime membership must have been fraudulently set up and that he would need access to her computer to improve the security settings. Similar scams, where callers pretend to be the police, a broadband provider or a government department, cost victims £37m in the first half of last year, according to banking trade association UK Finance.
Threats, such as the imminent severance of a broadband connection, are used to pressure householders into divulging personal details – or in allowing remote access to computers whereupon their bank accounts are emptied.
Amazon warns customers never to take action on their accounts in response to an unsolicited call.
“We take phishing and spoofing attempts seriously, and will never call a customer for payment outside of our website,” it says. “If a customer has concerns or receives a call they believe is not from Amazon, check the Amazon.co.uk help pages for guidance.”
If you receive an unexpected call requiring payment or personal information, hang up. If in doubt, wait a few minutes for the line to clear and call the company using a number on a bill or its website.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions
