We have received reports of a new scam involving fraudulent Amazon refunds.
Many Amazon customers have been recently contacted by phone from an ‘Amazon representative’ to issue refunds they were not expecting. In some instances customers were told the refund is a result of fraud on their Amazon account, and at other times customers are told they were overcharged for a previous purchase. The scam works this way:
- A representative instructs the customer to sign into their computer to allow the representative remote access to it.
- The customer is then directed to Amazon and instructed to log in.
- Once logged on, the representative shows the customer a screen that appears as if he/she is owed a refund.
- The customer is then asked to log into his/her online banking profile so the Amazon representative can issue the refund.
- After the customer logs into his/her online banking profile, the representative either moves money between two accounts to make it look like a refund took place, or he/she shares another screen that makes it look like the customer received a refund.
- The Amazon representative later pretends to panic, and tells the customer he/she was accidentally credited too much.
- The representative tells the customer Amazon cannot debit the account and the customer needs to purchase Visa gift cards in the amount of the excess funds that should be mailed back to the representative.
If a person follows all of the steps listed above, his/her device, Amazon account, online banking and accounts become compromised. The individual also loses money on the amount sent back to scammer via gift cards.
As a reminder, Amazon will never contact you to issue a refund and will never request remote access to your device.
If you ever receive a similar call, hang up and contact Amazon directly through the phone number provided on their website to file a report. And, if you believe you have been a victim of this scam, please contact us so that we can assist you with protecting your accounts and identity.