As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon sends untold numbers of emails to consumers on a daily basis. Many of them have to do with shipping, receiving, promotions and the like. But some of these emails, despite appearances, are fakes.
Clark, Inc. General Manager Christa DiBiase recently received an email that appeared to come from Amazon asking her to confirm her personal details connected to her account. The only problem? The correspondence didn’t come from Amazon.
Don’t fall for this popular Amazon.com phishing email
The email may be part of a complicated email “phishing” scam that uses fake emails, texts or copycat websites to lure people into sharing personal information like their passwords, account numbers and Social Security numbers.
Armed with an Amazon.com login ID and password, a scammer can easily rack up thousands of dollars in illicit purchases or divert merchandise from one address to another.
Is that email from Amazon.com? Here’s how to tell
Amazon.com acknowledges that phishing is a problem. But here’s what you need to know:
“Amazon will never send you an unsolicited e-mail that asks you to provide sensitive personal information like your Social Security number, tax ID, bank account number, credit card information, ID questions like your mother’s maiden name or your password.”
If you see an email with an order confirmation for an item that you don’t think you purchased, log into your Amazon account and go to your Your Orders to see if it matches what you see in the email.
If you get a request to update your Amazon account, don’t do it via email. Instead, go to Your Account on Amazon.com and click “Manage Payment Options” in the “Payments” section.
“If you aren’t prompted to update your payment method on that screen, the message isn’t from Amazon,” Amazon says.
How to report a phishing email to Amazon
Amazon says if you come across a suspicious email, forward it to [email protected].
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