I saw this on news last week and today I got one.
You get an email saying your Amazon account is locked, and log on to fix.

Once you click the link, your sent to a very real looking Amazon page to log on.
Your account is hi-jacked then your email and phone number get changed. Now you can't even recover your old account.


And I don't have an Amazon account.



.

I get those regularly along with notices about "locked" accounts that I don't even have.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
I saw this on news last week and today I got one.
You get an email saying your Amazon account is locked, and log on to fix.

This scam is as old as the hills--in "Internet years."

I've received those for eBay, PayPal, etc. for years. The Amazon one is a new one, but, the scam is not.

The funniest ones are the ones that insist the mailbox for my email account is locked and I have to log in somewhere to fix it.

It's my own domain, I administer the email server, and it's sitting right here, about two feet to my right and in front of me

It ticks all of the boxes for a classic phishing e-mail:

Their e-mail address is wrong (amazon.com is correct but amz.com is not)

It creates a sense of urgency (i.e. 48 hour deadline)

It provides a link to click (I'd bet $1000 that the link doesn't go to amazon.com).

I hope the OP didn't click it.

^^^^ It also includes poor grammar.

You’d think, if these guys were serious, they’d get a native English speaker to proof their scams.

No legit company will send you something like this, however if you feel you must check if it's legit then go straight to that company, Amazon in this example and see if you can log in, if so, bobs your uncle and you know you are scammed.

Never click on any link from any company that you haven't requested, never, ever.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
^^^^ It also includes poor grammar.

You’d think, if these guys were serious, they’d get a native English speaker to proof their scams.

You'll never guess what accent I read it w/.

In this day and age it's hard to feel sorry for anyone who clicks on a link like that. I get 2-4 phishing emails a week and have never clicked on one. Always look closely at the sender address.

Jim

I guess they prey on elderly or those not up on all things internet. These things are so obviously I can't imagine any somewhat informed internet user falling for it. First rule... never click on a link in an unsolicited email or other missive. If your account is truly in need of attention, it will surface when you next try access which is NEVER.

Even when I get an email from a company that I think is legit, I never respond to it directly. If Amex is trying to reach me (and occasionally they have), I always call the number on the back of the card.

Wife's account gets emails from places like Target, Home Depot, et cetera that look every real until looking closer at their email address that clearly shows it is a scam. Since I have access to her email it is my mission to block and report these emails as scam.

Guess I am worth something to her besides being the home chef.

You have to be on guard for anything today.
I got one yesterday that was from Amazon, warning of stuff like this.
A day earlier I got on from Square confirming my payment of a renewal of an anti-virus program. Looked very professional and passed the spelling tests, source email account, etc. Very well done, just totally bogus.

Jeebus.

Anyone who doesn't know what a Phishing scam is, literally shouldn't be using the internet anywhere other than at a public library with supervision.

This is textbook phishing. Textbook. Nothing new and dangerous about it.

Look at the screen shot. Plain as day. Who is noreply@amz.com? Would a real email come from Amazon at Amz.com?

Ok, fine, let's pretend you didn't see that email address. Who talks like this: "Auth : Your protection we have suspended your account".
Correct English is an incredibly low bar. Like, sure, companies with trillion dollar market caps like Apple are expected to have perfectly composed emails--but, really, even some place as small as Nancy's Etsy Knitting store can manage English OK. English this bad MUST mean that the email originated from a developing country.

quote:

Amazon scam

Scam from someone purporting to be from Amazon. A little more precise language, please.

quote:

You have to be on guard for anything today.
I got one yesterday that was from Amazon, warning of stuff like this.
A day earlier I got on from Square confirming my payment of a renewal of an anti-virus program. Looked very professional and passed the spelling tests, source email account, etc. Very well done, just totally bogus.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Good point particularly if you do a lot of business via email. Speed reading can cause problems and it seems the Spam filter misses a lot of the stuff.

For crying out loud do we still have to tell people to not click links from email. If you don’t know that then there is no hope for you.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
For crying out loud do we still have to tell people to not click links from email. If you don’t know that then there is no hope for you.

Yeah, sadly. These scam schemes are older than dirt.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
For crying out loud do we still have to tell people to not click links from email. If you don’t know that then there is no hope for you.

Yep.
Everyone should know this by now.

I know family members who have called the provided customer service number from the email with questions. This can be just as bad. Always call Customer Service number from the official website.

I get emails all the time about issues with my Amazon account. Odd since I don't have one.

When I get a "your account is locked" e-mail purporting to be from Chase (with whom I have a credit card), I forward it to phishing at chase dot com. Other than their sending me an acknowledgement reply, I have no idea where it goes from there. I imagine other banks and even Amazon have something similar.