Amazon Phishing Emails Are Coming Fast and Furious
It seems that each day I get some very convincing emails from Amazon telling me that I can view and edit my orders online 24 hours a day. As I am a regular customer of Amazon’s my first instinct when I got the first of these beauties was to wonder just what in the world was wrong with my latest book order. However, being naturally suspicious of most emails, I took a good look at this one and determined that it was in fact a phishing email.
I just grabbed this info from the Amazon site which should be helpful if you begin getting these emails on a regular basis.
Identifying Amazon E-mail
From time to time, you might receive e-mails that look like they come from Amazon.com, but they are, in fact, falsified. Often these e-mails direct you to a Web site that looks similar to the Amazon.com Web site, where you might be asked to provide account information such as your e-mail address and password combination. Unfortunately, these false Web sites can steal your sensitive information; later, this information may be used to commit fraud. Some phishing messages contain potential viruses or malware that can detect passwords or sensitive data. We recommend that you install an anti-virus program and keep it updated at all times.Below are some key points to look for in order to identify these e-mails:
1. Know what Amazon.com won’t ask for
Amazon.com will never ask you for the following information in an e-mail communication:
- Your social security number or tax identification number
- Your credit card number, PIN number, or credit card security code (including “updates” to any of the above)
- Your mother’s maiden name
- Your Amazon.com password
2. Requests to verify or confirm your account information Amazon.com will not ask you to verify or confirm your Amazon.com account information by clicking on a link from an e-mail.3. Attachments on suspicious e-mails
Amazon.com does not send order confirmations or other unsolicited requests that require you to open attachments, nor do we permit our merchants to do so. We recommend that you do not open any e-mail attachments from suspicious or unknown sources. If you receive a suspicious e-mail allegedly sent from Amazon.com that contains an attachment, we recommend you forward the e-mail to stop-spoofing@amazon.com (as an attachment if possible) without opening it. Delete the mail after you send it.If you opened an attachment in the e-mail, we recommend running anti-virus or anti-malware software. 4. Grammatical or typographical errors Be on the lookout for poor grammar or typographical errors. Some phishing e-mails are translated from other languages or are sent without being proofread, and as a result, contain bad grammar or typographical errors.5. Check the return address
Is the e-mail from Amazon.com? While phishers often send forged e-mail to make it look like it came from Amazon.com, you can sometimes determine whether or not it’s authentic by checking the return address. If the “from” line of the e-mail looks like “amazon-security@hotmail.com” or “amazon-fraud@msn.com,” or contains the name of another Internet service provider, you can be sure it is a fraudulent e-mail.6. Check the Web site address
Genuine Amazon.com web sites are always hosted on the “amazon.com” domain–”http://www.amazon.com/. . . ” (or “https://www.amazon.com/. . .”). Sometimes the link included in spoofed e-mails looks like a genuine Amazon.com address. You can check where it actually points to by hovering your mouse over the link–the actual Web site where it points to will be shown in the status bar at the bottom of your browser window or as a pop-up.We never use a web address such as “http://security-amazon.com/. . .” or an IP address (string of numbers) followed by directories such as “http://123.456.789.123/amazon.com/. . . .”
Alternately, sometimes the spoofed e-mail is set up such that if you click anywhere on the text you are taken to the fraudulent Web site. Amazon.com will never send an e-mail that does this. If you accidentally click on such an e-mail and go to a spoofed Web site, do not enter any information and just close that browser window.7. If an e-mail looks suspicious, go directly to the Amazon.com Web site
When in doubt, do not click the link included in an e-mail. Just go directly to www.amazon.com and click “Your Account” in the top right menu to view recent purchases, or review your account information. If you cannot access your account, or if you see anything suspicious, let us know right away.8. Do not “unsubscribe”
Never follow any instructions contained in a forged e-mail that claim to provide a method for “unsubscribing.” Many spammers use these “unsubscribe” processes to create a list of valid, working e-mail addresses.9. Protect your account information
If you did click through from a spoofed or suspicious e-mail and you entered your Amazon.com account information you should immediately update your Amazon.com password. You can do this through Your Account by choosing the option to “Change your name, e-mail address, or password” found under Account Settings.Even if someone has been able to look at your account, they are still not able to see your full credit card information. However, orders can be sent from your account using your credit card so please contact us immediately if you notice any orders that you do not recognize.
However, if you did submit your credit card number to the site linked to from the forged e-mail message, we advise that you take steps to protect your information. You may wish to contact your credit card company, for example, to notify them of this matter. Finally, you should delete that credit card from your Amazon.com account to prevent anyone from improperly regaining access to your account. To do so, click “Edit or delete a credit card” under Payment Settings in Your Account.
How To Report Phishing E-mails or Request Account Assistance
If you have received an e-mail you know is a forgery, or if you think you have been a victim of a phishing attack and you are concerned about your Amazon.com account, please let us know right away:
Leave a Reply
