The Amazon shopping season — known as Amazon Prime Day — is upon us. And it’s time to fend off more rounds of Amazon-related scams.
Amazon is a favorite for scammers throughout the year. Nearly one out of five people who reported a business impersonation scam said the scammer pretended to be from Amazon, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network data from July 2021 through June.
During the past year, 65,976 people reported being targeted by Amazon impersonators, and 5,411 people said they lost money, according to new data from the FTC.
Reported losses totaled more than $36 million, based on the FTC data. The median loss in this group — meaning half lost more and half lost less — during this time was $1,050.
It’s a ton of money to lose especially as consumers cope with skyrocketing prices on everything from groceries to gas.
Amazon Prime Day runs Tuesday and Wednesday but the sales trigger plenty of online bargain hunting in July, usually a dead zone for shoppers. And you can bet the scammers will be playing the odds that they can trick online shoppers once again.
In the first few days of July, Amazon-related phishing attacks increased by as much as 37% compared with the daily average in June, according to the cybersecurity firm Check Point Research’s figures.
“Amazon is very popular and millions of households use it for a variety of things. They use it for their TV with Amazon Prime. They use it to get things delivered….
