Amazon Scams to Lookout For

Online marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist are known for housing internet thieves.  These popular sites see millions of users everyday, giving scammers a lot of potential targets .  Be wary of items sold from third party sellers.  When purchasing anything from a third party vendor, it is likely a scam.  Here is a list of what type of scams are popping up in these online marketplaces.

 

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• The Bait-and-Switch Tactic

Scammers will list products for a decent price on Amazon.  When the buyers goes to purchase an item, the buyer will receive an e-mail directing them to cancel the order and make the purchase from a third party site for a better deal.  People do fall for this scam and end up purchasing nothing.  If you are on Amazon.com and receive an e-mail to purchase an item from someone else, it is a scam.

• Identity Theft

Personal Information is given when making purchases including, name, address, e-mail addresses.  This information alone is enough to steal your identity.  Scammers may try and open a credit card account with this information. In most cases, this will not work, but it can happen.  Do not send money by cash, wire transfer, Western Union, PayPal, or MoneyGram to a seller who claims that Amazon agrees to guarantee the transaction.

• The Empty Box Trick

Sometimes after a buyer makes a purchase, they receive an empty box filled with something like rocks to give it weight.  The buyer signs for the box and when the unfortunate moment when they realize they have been bamboozled.  The buyer will put a dispute with Amazon to get their money back and the company will judge the evidence between both parties, including the signature with the weight that should be similar to the purchased item.  Buyers have lost this dispute in the past.  When receiving a box, always check the return address, if it is an e-mail like, “amazon-security@hotmail.com” or “amazon@msn.com” it is fraudulent.

• Build Trust Then Take it Away

Amazon relationships are build between two parites after a buyer might regularly go through a certain seller. This trust is sometimes built with the intent to be broken. The seller knows when your guard is down and will then try and put a scam on you. A lot of money can be lost this way, always be cautious when making any purchases online.

 

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• Deceived Purchases

On occasion, faulty items are sent on purpose. Or the seller may prolong the returns process until it is no longer valid. Sellers may also send broken items or items with missing pieces, getting money for their junk.

It is very easy for a seller to disappear after making money off scams from Amazon.  Never provide information such as your social security number, date of birth, or credit card number or pin.  Be wry of attachments in suspicious e-mails, especially if they have grammatical errors or are from an unknown source.
Genuine Amazon Payments websites are always hosted on one of the following domains:

• https://payments.amazon.com/
• https://resolutioncenter.payments.amazon.com/
• https://authorize.payments.amazon.com

Have you experienced an Amazon scam?  Please share your incident with us, it’s important to keep our community informed!
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References:
5 Amazon Scams to Be on the Lookout For – Yahoo
http://voices.yahoo.com/5-amazon-scams-lookout-for-9153487.html?cat=46
September 26, 2013
Internet Scams and Phishing – Amazon Payments
https://payments.amazon.com/help/Personal-Accounts/Privacy-Security/Internet-Scams-and-Phishin