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We have an update to a phone scam that’s been using Amazon’s name to target people interested in stay-at-home jobs.
This scam first came to our attention in July 2018 when a woman dialed up Clark Howard’s Consumer Action Center (CAC), a free call-in help line, to ask about a recorded message she received for a work-at-home job opportunity.
The message said she could work using her computer for Amazon and directed her to a website at amzjobs.org.
Our Team Clark volunteer told the caller that this was NOT a legitimate Amazon job listing and suggested that she never pick up the phone if she doesn’t recognize the number.
The recorded message came from the phone number 816-281-9811. We called it and got this fraud alert:
There were other red flags. For example, Amazon’s official website for job applicants is Amazon.jobs, not the amzjobs.org web address that was mentioned in the call.
Since this article was first published, Team Clark has learned about similar job scams. People are receiving calls from multiple phone numbers that are directing them to bogus websites. The scammer may identify herself as “Sarah.”
“Hi, this is Sarah calling with earnwithamazon.org. We do retail recruitment and need people in your area to work online with Amazon. Hourly pay starts at $27. Sign up at earnwithamazon.org.”
We’ve compiled a list of websites that appear to be part of this scam. Don’t give them any of your personal information:
Another warning sign: The website that Clark.com visited said that workers will make $500 or more per day by working just a couple of hours. That’s a huge red flag!
Amazon does have real work-from-home jobs, but they typically pay customer service representatives around $15 an hour.
In January 2019, we noticed that this scam has evolved. Many of the scam sites with Amazon in the URL no longer exist, but others like retailincome.org are still up and running.
It’s the same scam, but Amazon’s logo has been replaced with news clips from reputable organizations:
When you click any of the links on these scam sites, you’re directed to a page that asks you to enter your name, email and phone number. Don’t do it! The scammers are just trying to sell you “work from home kits.”
If you’re looking for a remote job, this is just a reminder that scams are everywhere! That’s why the job search website FlexJobs recommends that you avoid using “work-at-home” and “work-from-home” in search engines.
Instead, try keywords that scammers are less likely to use, such as telecommuting, virtual and remote job.
Although FlexJobs is a paid subscription site, you may want to consider a short-term subscription ($14.95/month) because the service filters out all the junk postings — no scams!
Read about legitimate remote jobs in Clark’s Work From Home Guide!
This post was last modified on August 20, 2020 10:35 am
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