Amazon Issued A Warning To Millions Of Customers - Here's Why

The holiday season has officially arrived. Between now and Christmas, online shoppers will be flocking to Amazon to purchase everything from stocking stuffers and gift cards to big-screen TVs. It also means that scammers are out in force, attempting to get their hands on your hard-earned money and personal data. In fact, many Amazon users have already been victims of widespread impersonation scams. This is when a scammer claims to be a trustworthy company or individual, but is actually seeking cash or private info.

Fortunately, Amazon is aware of this and has been sending out messages to millions of users as a means of preventative education. Speaking with USA Today on the matter, Christy Vargas, a member of Amazon's public relations team, said, "We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe."

Coincidentally, Amazon's outreach efforts have lined up with a recent public service announcement (PSA) issued by the FBI, warning consumers to be on the lookout for account takeover fraud (ATO). While the bureau's message was focused on attackers who impersonate customer service and tech support from banking organizations, the tactics used by these scammers are similar to those identified by Amazon.

What exactly should you be on the lookout for when it comes to Amazon scams? Any unusual correspondence via call, text, email, or social media messaging should be grounds for concern — especially between now and Christmas. According to Amazon, telltale signs of an impersonation scam may include false urgency, asking for personal information, purchases outside of Amazon, payment with gift cards, and unexpected Amazon order notifications. 

Regarding the latter, shoppers can always check their Amazon account to confirm what orders have been processed and shipped. In a report released by the Federal Trade Commission in May 2024, the agency noted nearly 34,000 reports of scammers impersonating Amazon the prior year. The same report also mentions that Best Buy/Geek Squad and PayPal were the other two companies most often impersonated. 

Many consumers shop from their mobile devices, and fortunately, the big tech brands are well aware of scammer activity. Apple's filtering system for iOS 26 is aimed at scam texts, and Google is also fighting text message scams. But that doesn't mean users should be letting their guard down.

If you think you received a scam message or notification from Amazon, your best course of action is to report the suspicious activity to reportascam@amazon.com with images of the messages you've received. Scammed shoppers should also contact the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov. Even if you didn't suffer a financial loss or identity theft, your report could prevent other accounts from being compromised by scammers. 

We also can't stress enough the importance of education: Big tech wants its users to be safe, and companies like Google have shared how text scams steal your data and money. Still, PSAs only work if consumers know what red flags to search for in the first place. It's also essential to stay in the know about other types of scamming enterprises, such as the unfortunate 'Ghost Tapping' tap-to-pay scam that leverages Near Field Communication technology to harvest money from a victim's phone or tablet.