Amazon Warns Shoppers of New Scams as Black Friday Nears

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 06 November 2021, 02:11 pm

Amazon warns its shoppers about the rampant rise of cybercriminals launching new scams to take advantage of the shopping fever just days before Black Friday and weeks before the holiday season.

Amazon Warns Shoppers of Scammers

The researchers from a security firm called Avanan wrote in a blog post that scammers send out fake Amazon order notification emails to customers, according to TechRadar.

The objective of the fake emails is to get the victim to contact a fake customers service number listed in the email. The scammers would attempt to get the victim to tell them their credit card information.

Avanan explained that when the victim calls the number, at first, no one will answer. After a couple of hours, a call back will happen.

The scammer would then say that to cancel their "order," they will have to provide their credit card number and their CVV number.

Also Read: Amazon Combats SMS Raffle Scams Bearing its Name, Sues Several Individuals

Amazon Invoice Scam

Avanan stated that the scammers could circumvent the email security filters by including legitimate-looking links in the body of the email. The links would then direct to the Amazon website.

While some phishing scams use fake links that land on fake pages to get the victim's credentials, in this case, the links provide a more reliable path into inboxes. This tricks the victim into a false sense of security because they think it is valid.

Aside from the theft of payment details, the scam doubles as a form of phone number harvesting, laying the foundations for more voicemail and text-based attacks.

The researchers said that once the attackers get the phone number, they can carry out numerous attacks, whether through text messages or phone calls. Just one successful scam can lead to dozens of other scams.

As a result of the global chip shortage and disruptions in the supply chain, customers are expected to make their holiday season purchases weeks before the holiday. It will produce a series of scams that want to capitalize on the increase in demand for products.

To prevent these types of attacks, customers are advised by Amazon to review the sender's email address. The customers are also encouraged to check the body of the message for fake links and websites.

Also, it is better to avoid calling unfamiliar numbers unless they are also found on the retailer's website and avoid downloading unsolicited attachments that may have malware.

Earlier this year, Amazon also warned customers about the fake AirPods raffle that asked for their personal information.

WhatsApp users were also warned about the fake Amazon messages offering them of a free Amazon gift.

Amazon's Black Friday Deals

Amazon's early Black Friday deals range from hair tools, electronics, to smart TVs and Apple products, according to The New York Post.

The Apple AirPods Pros that is normally priced at $249, is now down to $190. The AirPods Pros noise canceling and have up to 24 hours of battery life when using the charging case that it comes in, according to RadioTimes.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick that is priced at $50 is now down to $25. The Samsung 60-in Class QLED SmartTV is now priced at $798 from the original price of $1,000.

The Amazon Echo Show 8, with an original price of $130, is now down to $100. The Fitbit Inspire 2 Health & Fitness is now down to $60, from the original price of $100. The Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Canceling Headphones is now down to $248 from the original price of $350.