Amazon says Prime scams are on the rise as the holidays near
CBSN
Amazon.com is warning that scammers are just as eager as consumers to take advantage of holiday shopping deals, with bad actors trying to gain access to customers' Prime accounts with scam emails, calls and texts. The online retailer said it has seen a surge in criminal activity involving the ecommerce platform as shoppers use Amazon to make their holiday purchases.
Two types of scams are particularly on the rise, noted Amazon, whose annual ahead Black Friday promotion starts Nov. 17. Reports of so-called email attachment schemes have doubled in the second half of 2023, according to Amazon. These scams involve criminals posing as Amazon customer service representatives and sending shoppers attachments suggesting that their accounts will be suspended if they don't take action. The emails include a link asking for members' login credentials or payment information, which the scammers then steal.
"The bad thing isn't opening the attachment," Scott Knapp, Amazon's director of worldwide buyer risk prevention, told CBS MoneyWatch. "It's clicking on the link in the attachment, which goes straight to their website, where they start collecting all kinds of information."
