Scam targets Amazon customers in Ontario

A scam currently circulating in Ontario targets Amazon customers.

An Amazon customer in Ontario tells insauga.com she had made several purchases through the shopping site when she received a call purporting to be from Amazon.

The automated voice recording told the customer her Amazon account had suspicious activity and that it was on hold. There was an option to connect to an operator.

Fortunately, she recognized it was likely a scam and hung up.

But she had just ordered several items on Amazon, so she noted people might fall for the scam.

“I can see how that call might fool someone else that’s had lots of activity on Amazon,” she said.

She contacted Amazon directly and confirmed that it was a scam call.

She wondered if the scammers somehow knew about her increased activity on Amazon.

When asked, a spokesperson from Amazon wouldn’t say if fraudsters could be aware of increased shopping activity.

“Scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon put our customers and our brand at risk,” the spokesperson said. “Although these scams take place outside our store, we will continue to invest in protecting customers and educating the public on scam avoidance.”

(Photo by Anna Shvets)

On its website, Amazon notes that it will never ask for personal information via emails, phone calls or text messages.

While some departments at Amazon will make outbound calls to customers, Amazon will never ask you to disclose or verify sensitive personal information or offer you a refund you do not expect.

“Amazon will never send you an unsolicited message that asks you to provide sensitive personal information like your social insurance number, tax ID, bank account number, credit card information, ID questions like your mother’s maiden name or your password,” the company notes on its website.

Amazon will never ask you to make a payment outside of our website and will never ask you for remote access to your device.

The company encourages customers to report scams.

For more information, see the Amazon page here on current scams and what to do.

There is also information on current scams on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Lead photo: Negative Space