I know that most of us use Amazon; so I wanted to warn everyone about an email scam that I just received. It looked like an email from Amazon, and it said that someone had been trying to hack into my account, and they had frozen the account, and I needed to immediately update my information. (or Amazon would delete my account forever) The grammar was just not right, and it did not look like something Amazon would send, although it had all of the correct Amazon logos, etc. When I clicked the link, it went to a different website than Amazon; so then I was pretty sure it was a scam, and I called Amazon customer service. They verified that they had not sent that email, and had me forward it to them so they can stop the scammers. If they sent this to me, they are also probably sending it to other Amazon customers. If you receive something like this, do NOT comply with the information request. Forward the email to stop-spoofing@amazon.com so they can stop the scammers.
Thanks Yvonne! I have not gotten this particular one from amazon, but I have received them from paypal numerous times. Problem is even if we are aware of these, they do look so authentic (sometimes), that we go ahead and click on them anyway. I would go to amazon and change my password, if you haven't already.
Just remember, most of these sites have your physical address and phone number, if they have a problem with your account, they will use those instead of email. Always be careful clicking on the link they provide. If you're concerned about the problem, go to the website in your usual way, from your browser. I've been getting a scam lately. The "from" address says amazon, and the title is along the lines of "here's your amazon gift card". Since I do surveys and such that pay in gift cards, at first thought it seems legit. But, in those cases, amazon doesn't send you the gift card themselves. The company paying you a gift card sends you an email, with a redemption code. You then go to amazon and enter it that way. These scams are confusing. A lot of times these have the same logo as the company and they are worded in such a way that it makes you want to check that everything is OK. Just be careful, once you click on the provided link, you have no way of knowing what will happen.
Thank you for the heads up on this scam. I have had something like this happen in the past, but it was done with someone pretending to send me an email from paypal. Somehow I am not surprised that now there are such emails targetted toward Amazon since its one of the most popular online shopping webssites. My advice to anyone getting such an email is of course don't click on any url they supply you with. If you still wonder if there is any validity to the email, go to the website that you no doubt have bookmarked and check out the status of your account there, odds are you will find there is nothing wrong with it.
Even if you forward scam emails, they'll just make other accounts/ phishing websites and continue doing what it is they are doing. There's just no stopping these thieves, and they have enough money for multiple scam websites, especially from the amount of people who fall for this stuff. You just have to be careful and question every link you click (or at least every link which is given to you over an online conversation), and you'll be safe.
I have been getting a lot of Amazon.com phishing attempts that are disguised as notices that my Amazon.com order is being prepared, and then it lists some expensive item that I have never ordered. However, although it uses the Amazon.com graphics and format, the email is wrong.
The only problem I've had with Amazon lately is when I tried to set up an author page. I was given the credit for a book that was written in 1967, which was very nice of them, but I certainly have no recollection of writing a book when I was eight.
I can't imagine an eight year old writing a book either, Tom! ......a nine year old, however, is another story! Alec Greven's How to Talk to Girls was published in 2008 when he was 9 years old. Subsequently he has published How to Talk to Moms, How to Talk to Dads and How to Talk to Santa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Greven
It's something I could have gotten myself in trouble if it weren't for such warning as yours. Thanks! My mom had fallen victim once. Thankfully, because she was just newly introduced to the computer world, she does not have any account except Facebook.
Our local news was warning about another scam today. Apparently,a local woman opened her regular mail, and found a check for $2,000 in it, and a letter telling her that she had been chosen to be a Walmart mystery shopper. She called Walmart (which was a smart thing o do) and learned that the letter was a fake. From what the police said, the next step would have been when she deposited the worthless $2,000 check in her bank account, and then they would have had enough account information for the thieves to withdraw all of the money from her bank account. Walmart said that they had received calls from other people asking about the same thing; so apparently, these letters are being sent out all over.
What would prevent someone from cashing the check, then closing the account or making sure there's never a balance there and that it doesn't have overdraft protection?
I wondered that, too; but they way the article was presented, the person had to go to the website that was supposedly for the mystery shoppers and put in personal information. Maybe you were supposed to put the check in your bank, and then use a credit card to shop, and you got credited for doing that. If it was something like that, then you would have to give them your banking information right up front, which is apparently haw the scam worked. Here is the information that Walmart puts out about the mystery shopper scam. http://corporate.walmart.com/privacy-security/fraud-alerts/mystery-shopper