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  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 13, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Amazon Prime, ,   

    Prime day brings plenty of scams 

    Prime day brings plenty of scams

    (The following post is not an endorsement for Amazon.com)

    Today, Tuesday, October 13, 2020, is the start of Amazon Prime Day. That’s when the online retail behemoth offers one-day exclusive deals to customers who pay for their annual Prime membership. Many view it as Amazon’s Black Friday. And just like Black Friday, many of the deals offered by Amazon can seem questionable at best. However, also like Black Friday, that’s not going to stop shoppers from making purchases they see as a good deal.

    Of course, there will be another Prime Day pitfall to look out for. Scammers will be out in full force looking to swindle you out of any savings you might have accrued.

    Reports are warning Amazon shoppers to be wary of any unsolicited phone calls you might receive that are claiming to be from Amazon. These calls will try to tell you that there’s been a fraudulent charge to your Amazon account or that something you ordered has been lost or damaged.

    If you receive one of these phone calls, it is recommended that you hang up without giving the caller any personal information. Instead, log in to your Amazon account and look at your order history to see if any of these claims are true.

    There may also be a resurgence of the phony delivery text message scam that we featured a few weeks ago. As always, never click a link on an unsolicited text message from someone you don’t know personally.

    In some extreme cases, phony Amazon reps will ask for remote access to your device in order to clear up any problems your account may have. Never allow a stranger to have remote access to your device as not only could they steal personal information but they could also install malware onto your device which would allow them to spy on your device at any time.

    Amazon’s customer support page can be found here.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 13, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Amazon Prime, , , , ,   

    Scams that use the Amazon name 

    Scams that use the Amazon name

    Over the weekend, a number of reports came out independent from each other that detailed separate scams that are using Amazon’s name and logo to fool victims into handing over personal or financial information.

    In the first scam, scammers are sending out emails with the official Amazon logo attached to them. The email thanks you for purchasing an Amazon e-gift card. The email then says that if you didn’t purchase the e-gift card to click a link to cancel the purchase or receive a refund. This is a phishing attack that will lead you to a website that is not Amazon where the scammers will try to get you to input personal or financial information in order to get your ‘refund’. In one instance, a victim was asked to buy Amazon gift cards from a local retailer to fix the problem. If you ever receive an email like this you should never click on any links. Instead, go straight to the retailer’s website to check your account.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rg9tCBj0CU%5D

    The second scam was reported as happening in the Pacific Northwest. In it, the scammers are sending consumers letters stating that their Amazon purchase didn’t go through. What’s troubling about this scam is that the scammers have gained access to information that allows them to know what you purchased from Amazon and how much you paid for it. The letter instructs you to go to a website in order to but again, asks you to input personal and financial information. It’s unknown how scammers have gotten the purchase information so if you receive one of these letters, it’s recommended that you change the password to your Amazon account.

    In the last scam, if you’re thinking about signing up for Amazon Prime or you have a technical issue with Prime, be careful of what links you click on after a web search. In some cases, if you do a web search for ‘Amazon Prime’ or ‘Amazon Prime customer support’ you may be presented with ads that take you to third-party sites that are definitely nor Amazon. In other cases, these ads will list a phony customer service number for Amazon Prime. Security researchers have stated that these ads will take you to sites that will try to get you to pay for services that would be free if performed by amazon. This is also known as the tech support scam. Again, if you have customer service needs that Amazon needs to address, go to Amazon.com in order to find the correct information.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 6, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Amazon Prime, , , , , , ,   

    Is there really something wrong with your Amazon Prime account? 

    Is there really something wrong with your Amazon Prime account?

    Today, we’re bringing you scams that are happening locally in communities around the country. As we always say, if it’s happening there it could also be happening in your community.

    First up is a report out of Westchester County, New York where police there are warning residents about calls claiming to be from Amazon. Residents have complained about receiving calls from someone claiming that their Amazon Prime accounts have been compromised and need to be renewed. Victims of the scam are then asked for their financial information to resolve the non-existent issue. In one case, a victim was asked to remotely give control of their computer to the scammers so they could ‘improve the security settings.’ So this scam appears to be a hybrid of phishing and the tech support scam.

    A student at Texas A&M recently found herself scammed out of $10,000 in a Social Security scam. She received a phone call with the caller claiming that her Social Security information was misused with some drug issues in El Paso. They threatened her with arrest or she could pay them $10,000. The student was then instructed to transfer money to the scammers by way of BitCoin and gift cards. No government agency will call you on the phone like this and they especially wouldn’t ask for payment in BitCoin and gift cards. If you suspect there may actually be an issue with your Social Security, call the Social Security Administration yourself at their official customer service number of 1 (800) 772-1213.

    Lastly, if you get an unsolicited phone call from someone promising you a great cable deal, it’s more than likely a scam. The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers of these fraudulent phone calls. The caller will promise you a discounted deal on your cable bill if you pay a certain number of months upfront. As with many scams, they ask you to make the payment by using pre-paid debit cards. Like gift cards, one the scammers are able to get the money off of the pre-paid debit card there’s no way of getting it back.

     

    • marsha barish 11:27 am on November 26, 2022 Permalink

      is there anything wrong with my amazon prime account…received a notice saying …prime alert accoount rejected..reactivate your account….want to know if this is a scam or if there is really something the matter with my account…please advise…

    • Geebo 11:33 am on November 26, 2022 Permalink

      It sounds like it could be a scam. We recommend not clicking on any links in the message. Instead, sign in to your account at the Amazon website to see if anything is wrong with your account.

  • Geebo 9:02 am on September 7, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Amazon Prime, ,   

    Don’t fall for the Prime Day phishing scam 

    Don't fall for the Amazon Prime phishing scam

    A phishing attack is when a scammer sends out a mass of emails that look like legitimate emails from such places as a bank telling you to log into your account and offering you a link to do so. Usually they do this under the guise that something is wrong with your account. Instead of sending you to your bank site, the website it sends you to is almost a mirror image of your bank’s site, but it’s a fake. It’s designed to copy your log in credentials in order to steal your financial information.

    More recently, a phishing attack has appeared that purports to be from Amazon. The email looks like it came from Amazon itself and it thanks you for buying an item during Amazon’s Prime Day, its once a year site-wide sale Amazon holds in July for its Prime Members. The email then asks you to write a review for the product your purchased and promises the chance for you to win a $50 Amazon gift card if you do. Then a link is offered to take you directly to Amazon. Much like the bank phishing scam, instead of taking you to Amazon, it takes you to a site which looks almost identical to the Amazon sign on page, but as usual it isn’t. If you enter your log in credentials here, they could be stolen and the perpetrators could use the financial information stored in your Amazon account to buy items for themselves. By the time you notice, the merchandise could have already been delivered to a temporary address and you’re stuck with the bill.

    When dealing with phishing emails like this, never click on any of the links. If you feel it may be a legitimate email, go to directly to the website by typing out the address in your browser. Always make sure the URL is spelled correctly as scammers will often use addresses that are slight misspellings of the actual URL. Also make sure when dealing with any website that needs your financial information, the URL should start with https, not just http. In most modern browsers it should also display a lock icon to let you know the site is secure.

     

  • Geebo 9:03 am on June 8, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Amazon Prime,   

    Is Amazon’s Prime discount for low-income families a boon or a bane? 

    Is Amazon's Prime discount for low-income families a boon or a bane?

    Earlier this week, online retail giant Amazon announced they will be offering a discounted fee for their Prime service to low-income families that are on government food assistance. Prime is usually $99 per year, or $10.99 a month. With that service, Prime members receive unlimited free shipping, faster shipping, and access to Amazon’s streaming video library among other services. For those families who receive benefits through SNAP or EBT cards, they will have a monthly fee of $5.99 a month subtracted from their cards.

    Now obviously, this is a pure business approach on Amazon’s part in their ongoing battle with Wal-Mart, but does it actually help low-income families or does it more to hurt them? In some ways it’s great. For those people who may not have access to a vehicle, they can get food and other much-needed goods delivered to their residence. In a lot of cases, what some may consider a short trip to the store can end up as a recurring expense if all the transportation they have access to is either a taxi or a ride share service. Also, items that are needed frequently can be ordered in bulk from Amazon. In other instances there are low-income families who may not be educated enough, or have the experience, on how to spend wisely. A wide open pipeline to Amazon like this could lead them to make purchases that aren’t financially sound for their budget.

    Still, details are still a little sparse on this program. Hopefully, Amazon will add some type of documentation for these families on how to best use their service if they choose to.

     

  • Geebo 10:01 am on November 2, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Amazon Prime   

    Amazon charges more to non-Prime customers in physical stores 

    Amazon charges more to non-Prime customers in physical stores

    Online retail giant Amazon has opened physical brick and mortar stores in Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. They plan on opening two more stores in Chicago and Boston. At these physical locations they sell mostly books, which is where Amazon originally made their bread and butter. However they’ve started a minor controversy by charging Amazon Prime members lower prices at their physical stores.

    Amazon Prime is a paid perk for Amazon.com members where they can receive additional benefits like faster delivery and access to their Netflix-like service, Amazon Video. However, what the Prime membership doesn’t do is give Prime members better prices on their website. By using the stick and carrot of lower prices at the physical stores to get customers to sign up for Prime, it seems that they’re trying to extort their customers into paying close to $100 a year just to get a few bucks off for books at their physical location.

    Now some may say that this sounds like any other ‘price club’ that a lot of stores have. The store gives you a card and when you present their card at checkout you get a discount on sale items. So how is that different from Amazon Prime? Well, at most of these stores that have price clubs, membership is free. That’s a far cry from $100 a year just for books. This sounds like it may be a minor backfire for Amazon as the only people they’ll be getting at their physical stores are people who need to have a book right now and will be willing to pay a few extra bucks for the non-Prime price.

     

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