Prime Day Scams to Avoid – Cybercriminals will be on the prowl for Amazon customers’ financial information and personal data. Here’s how to safeguard yourself from typical frauds.
Prime Day Scams to Avoid
When Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale begins this week, millions of customers will be looking for amazing deals, but the tech giant and independent cybersecurity experts both warn that scammers will also be seeking to take advantage of the occasion to steal consumers’ money and personal information.
According to researchers at the cybersecurity company Check Point, the number of Amazon Prime-related phishing attacks discovered by their systems increased 16-fold in June compared to the previous month. The huge sale begins on Tuesday.
What Is Prime Day
Let’s catch you up to speed in case you’ve been blissfully ignorant of the Amazon Prime Day shopping holiday mayhem: Every year for 48 hours, Amazon is known to hold a sale on Prime Day during which they tend to offer discounts on thousands of items from every of the category.
Exclusive to Prime members, Prime Day is a 48-hour event that features discounts across a wide range of categories, including pet supplies, home and kitchen goods, beauty and wellness, tech, and more.
Common Scams on Amazon Prime Day
Fake Websites
Scammers make fake versions of the official Amazon website here. From the user interface to the logo, everything has the same appearance and feel. However, the real website address is different, so if you log in, you could think something is off.
The false website’s spelling will initially resemble the legitimate “www.amazon.com” Yet it isn’t. A second look will reveal any extra letters, missing letters, or unique characters in the URL address.
Customer Support Scam Calls
One of the most typical scams that occurs on Prime Day is customer support scam calls. In this case, the con artist phones and makes the pretense of working for Amazon. Then, for a modest price, they offer to resolve a made-up issue.
Or the con artists assert that the victim has been selected to win a prize in a lottery. To claim the award, they next prod the user to enter their login credentials or bank information.
Fake Customer Reviews
The lead-up to Prime Day is as raucous as Prime Day itself. Sellers may use shady strategies like fabricating reviews in an effort to stand out among the cacophony of voices vying for your attention and every dollar.
There have always been fake reviews. However, it is now simpler to produce strong evaluations on a much bigger scale thanks to generative AI. This is something that new or tiny vendors frequently undertake in an effort to boost the sales of genuine goods. However, as the buyer, there is no surefire way to tell wolf from sheep.
Low-quality Products
It can be hit or miss as to the caliber of the goods you’ll find on sale during Prime Day. In a sea of inexpensive goods, finding high-quality items can be challenging. If there aren’t many sellers of the goods you desire or if the brand isn’t well-known in the industry, it’s even harder.
Of course, the online market places restrictions on the listing and sale of particular goods, notably goods requiring a high level of safety, including alcohol, auto parts, and food. However, a lot of purchasing is done on the basis of confidence when it comes to the quality of unrestricted things sold. Trust that con artists can abuse. After you open the shipping box a few days later, you’ll discover whether the product you purchased is reliable, of poor quality, or satisfies your demands.
False discounts, coupons, and promotion codes
Be wary of emails and commercials that promise hundreds of dollars in savings via coupons and discount codes. On Prime Day, respected consumer review websites will post valid Amazon promo codes. They provide con artists with a chance as well.
Be careful of emails, advertising, and even posts on community forums that request information from you in exchange for coupons. Some even appear innocent, such as when they just need your email address to provide the codes. They probably represent efforts to harvest emails for use in marketing campaigns. You’ll probably receive false or expired codes in return in your email.
Tips on How to Avoid Scams During Amazon Prime Day
Here are some safety suggestions provided by Amazon and Check Point for Prime Day buying.
- Check domain names twice. Any website that doesn’t begin with “Amazon.com” may be a hoax. Other online retailers do similarly. Check the address for typos, extra punctuation, and any other irregularities that might be present.
- Stick to the Amazon website, app, and stores for your purchases. Amazon will never e-mail or call customers and request money. Additionally, it won’t request that you make them via a third-party website or a bank transfer.
- Visit the websites of retailers directly. It is advisable to type in the URL directly rather than clicking on a potentially dodgy link. Simply check “My Orders” in your Amazon account to see if a message that claims you ordered something is accurate before clicking the link.
- Use 2FA and a strong password. All retail websites must use secure passwords. They must therefore be lengthy, distinctive, and random. Even a strong password shouldn’t be recycled if you’ve already used it for another account. Also, enable two-factor authentication wherever it’s practical. If your password is ever compromised, using this additional authentication method could save your skin.
- Take urgency with any emergency. Yes, many Prime Day discounts have a limited window of opportunity, but any offer that demands immediate purchase deserves deeper examination. Cybercriminals are counting on you to click without thinking.
Tips on How to Avoid Scams During Amazon Prime Day
- Find the lock, please. Today, SSL encryption is used by all trustworthy retail websites. At the beginning of the URL, a lock symbol denotes it. Shop elsewhere if it isn’t there.
- Pay with a credit card. You won’t be liable for any charges that are fake.
- Be careful how you disclose personal information. Your birthday, Social Security number, and other fixed personal information are not required to be disclosed to retailers.
- Report phony messages. You can report spam or phishing using buttons found in the majority of email systems. You can report scam text messages by forwarding them to 7726 (SPAM).
- If a deal seems too good to be true, check again. Yes, we’ve heard this adage so often that it’s now considered cliche, but you should always assume a scam when a deal seems too good to be true. Avoid them if you can’t confirm it on their website.
Always take a pause before you click, text, or even call back anybody to make sure the message you receive is genuine.