Within both the personal and business world, Amazon is a giant of a company that many of us interact with regularly. Whether you use it just to buy the occasional item you can’t find in a store or utilize Amazon daily for major business-related purchases, navigating it responsibly is important.
At Wasatch Peaks Credit Union, we’re proud to help many individuals and business owners alike with numerous budgeting, loan and other areas. Unfortunately, within both the personal and business world, the prevalence of Amazon has led some unscrupulous characters to attempt various scams using this service or imitations of it – let’s look at each of these and ensure you don’t fall victim to one of these scams.
Gift Card Payments
You have to be wary of using Amazon gift cards as forms of payment for anything other than what they’re meant for – gifts. One common tactic scammers will take here, both in business and personal situations, will be asking if it’s possible for you to pay some debt or invoice using Amazon gift funds.
To do so, you have to provide card details to the other party involved. And while this person or group will assure you they’re only going to withdraw the funds you owe, there’s no way for you to confirm this – once someone has your card info, they can spend however much of it they want. Never agree to this kind of arrangement unless you’re using the full balance of an Amazon gift card.
Fake Emails
Spoof emails are one of the most common scamming formats across the globe, and this includes Amazon areas as well. Many smart hackers can create emails that appear identical to those that come from Amazon themselves, convincing you to click links or images that may lead you to phishing scams or other issues.
In other cases, scammers may pretend to be an Amazon employee looking to clarify information with you – asking for things like your credit card info, password, address or other details. The real Amazon would never ask for this sort of information via email, and you should never provide it – instead, contact Amazon customer service right away to let them know of the issue.
“Brushing”
This is a scam format where someone orders their own product off Amazon, then ships it somewhere random just so they can leave a review. The person who receives the package is simply stuck with it. This one doesn’t actually hurt you all that badly if it happens to you, but do Amazon a favor and let them know if it does so they can investigate on their end.
Separate Payment Sites
If you’re on Amazon buying a product and you’re redirected to a totally separate site when it comes time to check out and pay, this is a huge red flag. Forms of payment like wire fraud or cash are not things legitimate Amazon partners will request under any circumstances, and there’s virtually no situation where you should have to leave the site to make payment.
For more on avoiding Amazon scams, or to learn about any of our small business loans, home loans, car loans or other services, speak to the staff at Wasatch Peaks Credit Union today.
