Fake emails purporting to be from Amazon have been sent to thousands of Christmas shoppers around the world.
The mass email scam targets Christmas shoppers in an attempt to steal their bank card details.
The email tries to trick Amazon users by claiming that there has been a problem with a recent order.
Customers are invited to click on a link that appears to take them to the company’s website.
But the link actually takes users to a fake, authentic-looking phishing site designed to look like an Amazon page.
The customer is then asked to type in their bank details to re-verify their account.
Amazon has provided details on how to identify spoof emails in a section on their website.
‘From time to time you might receive e-mails purporting to come from Amazon.co.uk which do not come from actual Amazon.co.uk accounts,’ they say.
‘Instead, they are falsified and attempt to convince you to reveal sensitive account information.
‘Unfortunately, these false websites can steal your sensitive information; later, this information can be used without your knowledge to commit fraud.’
‘The best way to ensure that you do not respond to a false or phishing e-mail is to always go directly to your account on Amazon to review or make any changes to your orders or your account,’ the firm says.
‘Customers can access their account by visiting www.amazon.co.uk and clicking on the ‘Your account’ link in the top right hand corner of any page.’
Amazon goes on to relay specific telltale signs to look out for.
The company says that it will never ask for details including a National Insurance Number, bank account, credit card PIN or passwords.
They add that a common giveaway is poor grammar or spelling in the scam email.
Amazon also recommends that users check the return address of the email, and the web address that the link sends you to.
‘Genuine e-mails come from an e-mail address ending in “@amazon.com”, “@amazon.lu” or “@amazon.co.uk”,’ the company says.
‘Genuine Amazon websites always end with “.amazon.com” or “.amazon.co.uk”.’
And on phishing emails like the latest Christmas scam, Amazon says:
‘Some phishing e-mails include a link that looks as though it will take you to your seller account, but it is really a shortened link to a completely different website.
‘If you hover over the link in your e-mail client, you can sometimes see the underlying, false Web address, either as a popup or as information in the browser status bar.’
Consumer rights expert Mary Bach told the Independent that the scam relies on Amazon’s huge reach worldwide.
‘So many people right now are using Amazon,’ she says.
‘Randomly sending out emails’ gives scammers good odds of reaching someone who is actually waiting for an Amazon order.
When MailOnline contacted Amazon about the new email scam, they stated that they do not comment on individual email cases, and couldn’t give any figures as to how many had been affected.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4025016/Amazon-customers-warned-scam-email-aims-bank-card-details-s-stay-safe.html#ixzz4TgExCVnV
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Too bad most Amerikans will fall for it….