Stay Alert! Watch out for new amazon scams

As the holiday shopping season heats up, you may be doing some purchasing from Amazon, which is what scammers are counting on. If you've recently placed an order, then you're going to be less suspicious of an email from Amazon confirming it. But now's the time to be more suspicious than ever because these tricksters can get you into trouble.

Here's how it works: They send you a fake email confirming an order you didn't place and asking you to provide sensitive personal information such as credit card or bank account details, your Social Security number, or your password. Don't fall for it! Genuine Amazon emails will never:

 

~ Ask for personal information

~ Include links to anywhere other than Amazon ~ Contain numerous spelling and grammar errors ~ Contain unsolicited attachments

If you receive an email with any of these telltale signs, it's not from Amazon. You should delete the email and, just to be safe, login to your Amazon account using a known bookmark and change your password. Or, alert Amazon by sending the email as an attachment to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A similar scam that also results in a confirmation email is when fraudsters gain your Amazon login information and actually make purchases through your account. In this case, the email may be legitimate, but describing a transaction you didn't approve. The remedies in this case are to, once again, immediately change your password; contact Amazon to report the transaction; and call your bank or credit card company to find out how to get your money back.