Amazon customers are the latest victims of an email
scam, warns Get Safe Online.
Fraudsters claiming to be from Amazon have sent out
thousands of emails to consumers, telling them that there is a ‘problem’ with
their order.
To resolve the alleged issue, the email asks
customers to confirm ‘certain information’ by clicking on a link. Otherwise,
they will not be able to access their Amazon account.
This directs people to a seemingly credible but
fake website, making it easy for even the most vigilant customer to fall for
the scam.
Here, they are required to input in personal
information. When customers have entered in their details, they are asked to
click a ‘Save & Continue’ button.
This then takes them to Amazon’s official website,
again making it difficult for most people to suspect of any fraudulent
activity.
Get Safe Online warns that customers are more
easily exploited in the lead up to Christmas, with last minute shopping anxiety
making them more susceptible to threats.
Online fraudulent activity is becoming increasingly
common, with high quality, authentic looking phishing scams being especially difficult to spot.
Get Safe Online has issued a list of safety
precautions for online shoppers to watch out for while shopping on Amazon.
Along with being aware of emails asking them to
update their details or fix a problem with their account, it advises customers
to regularly check their bank statements.
Looking out for a secure website page is also
vital. This can be done by ensuring that the address contains ‘https’ at the
beginning, with the ‘s’ standing for
secure.