Amazon warns all 220 million Prime members of scammer attacks

Prime customers are being warned about phishers sending fake Amazon correspondence.

In these Prime membership scams, scammers are impersonating Amazon to target users and steal personal information such as social security numbers, bank information or Amazon account details.

In 2024, Amazon took down more than 55,000 phishing websites and 12,000 phone numbers that were used as part of impersonation schemes — and they’ve noticed an uptick.

Amazon said in an email earlier this month that there had been an increase in reports about fake emails, and over two-thirds of scams claimed to be related to order or account issues.

Reports often included calls, texts or emails from scammers claiming that the user made a purchase that they didn’t actually make and asking for account information to “verify” the order.

“Scammers who attempt to impersonate Amazon put consumers at risk,” Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of Selling Partner Services, said in the notice.

“Although these scams take place outside our store, we will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on how to avoid scams.”

Malwarebytes also issued a warning noting that scammers are sending fake emails claiming a user’s Amazon Prime subscription will automatically renew at an unexpected price.

These emails may include personal information they obtained from other sources to appear legitimate, and they might also include a “cancel subscription” button that leads to a fake Amazon login page.

If a user logs in using the fake page, the scammer will have their details and can use it to login to the actual Amazon site — as well as any other online account that has the same username and password.

The fake login page might also ask for payment information and other sensitive information, which would ultimately go to the scammer.

Amazon is also hoping to educate consumers on how to avoid scams. To start, Amazon adopted a secure email capability for users using Gmail, Yahoo! and other common email providers. These users will see the Amazon smile logo icon in their inbox.

They also noted that it’s important to verify purchases on Amazon, trust the app and website, know that they will never ask for payment over the phone or email, be wary of false urgency; they will never ask you to purchase a gift card, and if you’re unsure, contact Amazon directly.