People across Gedling borough are being urged to be on their guard against an emerging Amazon impersonation scam which has already seen victims lose more than £86,000 in just nine days.
Criminals are contacting people out of the blue pretending to be representatives of Amazon and claiming suspicious activity has been detected on their account.
According to Report Fraud, £86,837 was stolen from victims between 5 and 14 October, equivalent to an average of more than £9,600 a day.
During the nine-day period, Report Fraud received 110 reports involving Amazon impersonation scams.
People aged between 50 and 79 appear to be particularly at risk, accounting for 60 per cent of the reports received.
How the Amazon scam works
The fraud typically begins with a call from someone claiming to represent Amazon.
Victims are told that suspicious activity has taken place on their account and that unauthorised items have been added to their Amazon shopping basket.
To make the story appear convincing, fraudsters can provide unfamiliar delivery addresses before claiming somebody is attempting to buy the items using the victim’s bank details.
The caller then offers to stop the supposed transactions and secure the Amazon account, but victims are instructed to take actions which instead give criminals access to their money or personal information.
These tactics can include:
- Asking victims to share their screen through a messaging service or download money-transfer apps, which are then used to move money into accounts controlled by the criminals.
- Asking for legitimate documents such as a passport or driving licence under the guise of identity verification.
- Persuading victims to install remote-access software, potentially giving the fraudster control of their computer, phone or other device.
- Claiming gift cards have been added to the victim’s Amazon basket and convincing them that urgent payments are required to prevent the purchases.
What Gedling borough residents should do?
Residents are being reminded that genuine service providers, banks and the police will never phone and ask someone to transfer money, reveal personal financial information or hand over remote control of their device.
If you receive a suspicious call:
- Hang up.
- Contact the organisation yourself using details you know are genuine, such as those found on its official website or app.
- If you need to contact your bank, you can call 159.
- Don’t rely on the number displayed by Caller ID as proof that a caller is genuine.
- Suspicious calls can be reported by texting 7726 with the word ‘Call’, followed by the scam caller’s number.
Anyone who believes they have lost money to fraud should report it to Report Fraud online or call 0300 123 2040.
