Beware of Phishing Phone Scams

Most Americans are familiar with the classic phone call scam. Nefarious persons obtain access to thousands of phone numbers (or choose an area code and try different combinations of the other seven numbers until they get lucky and find a real number). When they reach you, or your voicemail, they lay out a scenario in which you must take urgent action to prevent dire consequences from unfolding. Usually that action involves divulging sensitive information, often financial in nature and they sometimes even say you can’t share information with anyone because it is an active crime investigation.

This is an example of a false order phone scam from Amazon and Apple.

In this scam, if you pick up the phone you’ll find someone impersonating an Amazon customer support agent on the other end of the line. They’ll claim that an order for a $1200 iPhone 12 or another expensive product has been placed on your account. If you haven’t ordered an expensive product on Amazon recently, you’ll reasonably be alarmed by this news. The bad guys rely on your sense of fear and urgency to extract sensitive information from you over the phone. They can also intimidate you into buying gift cards and providing the redemption information to them.

Here are some ways to avoid an Amazon (or any company) impersonator scam:

• Never call back an unknown number. Use the official information on Amazon’s website and not a number listed in an unexpected email or text.
• Don’t pay for anything with a gift card. No real business or government agency will ever insist you pay them with a gift card. Anyone who demands to be paid with a gift card is a scammer.
• Don’t give remote access to someone who contacts you unexpectedly. This gives scammers easy access to your personal and financial information—like access to your bank accounts.

Phone scams may be an old trick, but they’re still common because they work. Always be suspicious of unsolicited calls, and err on the side of caution. The safest course of action is to NEVER provide any information to the caller and if necessary call the company at the official number posted on their real website. If you are being encouraged to act urgently and rapidly, or being asked to provide access to your device or to private information, hang up the phone immediately.


Text Message Scam

The premise is simple — hackers will send users text messages pretending to be Amazon representatives asking for a variety of different things, including fake reports of suspicious activity on one’s account or fake information about shipping delays or package arrivals. Oftentimes, hackers will include a hyperlink in the message which will either link to a site designed to appear as a legitimate login page or it can deploy some sort of malware onto the device to steal your information.

This is an example of an Amazon scam texts: