Six practical tips to help you stay safe and avoid impersonation scams

We want to help consumers avoid impersonation scams. These happen when a scammer pretends to be a trusted company and reaches out to try to get access to sensitive information like social security numbers, bank information, or Amazon account details.

Of all the scams impersonating Amazon reported by our customers globally in 2023, over two-thirds of scams claimed to be related to order or account issues. These reports often include interactions with scammers where a customer tells us, “I got a random call from someone who claimed I bought something on Amazon that I hadn’t and they wanted my account information to verify this was an error.” We invest significant resources to protect consumers and stores from these scammers.

“Scammers who attempt to impersonate Amazon put consumers at risk,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of Selling Partner Services. “Although these scams take place outside our store, we will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on how to avoid scams.”

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First, we want you to know when you are communicating with Amazon that it is really us. We've implemented industry-leading email verification technology across more than 20 countries to make it easier for customers to identify phishing emails and harder for scammers to commit fraud. Customers using Gmail, Yahoo!, and other common email providers can be confident an email is coming from Amazon because they will see the Amazon smile logo icon in their inbox. We also provide resources on how to tell whether an email, phone call, text message, or webpage is really from Amazon.

Second, we continue to work to hold bad actors accountable. In 2023, we initiated takedowns of more than 40,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers impersonating us.

Third, we work to help educate consumers on how to avoid scams. While bad actors will continue to try to evade detection, there are helpful tips that all of us can use to avoid impersonation scams.

Still, no one is immune to scams, nor should anyone feel embarrassment when they are targeted by scammers.

1. Verify purchases on Amazon. If you receive a message about the purchase of a product or service, do not respond to the message or click on any link in the message; instead, log into your Amazon account or use the Amazon mobile app and confirm that it is really in your purchase history before taking any action.
   
2. Trust Amazon’s app and website. We will not ask for payment over the phone or email—only in our mobile app, on our website, or in one of our physical stores. We will not call and ask you to make a payment or bank transfer on another website.
   
3. Be wary of false urgency. Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they’re asking.
   
4. Don’t be pressured into buying a gift card. We will never ask you to purchase a gift card, and no legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay with gift cards. Learn more about common gift card scams on our help pages.
   
5. Contact us. If you’re ever unsure, it’s safest to stop engaging with the potential scammer and contact us directly through the Amazon app or website. Do not call numbers sent over text or email, or found in online search results. Remember Amazon will not ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service nor will we request payment for any customer service support.
   
6. Check what others are saying. See if anyone else has reported a similar situation. We have partnered with services to provide consumers a searchable scam tracker that enables you to search suspicious communications reported by others by email, URL, phone number, and more.

If you receive correspondence that you think may not be from Amazon, please report it immediately. Customers can use the Amazon self-service tool to report something suspicious in just a few quick steps. If you are not a customer, you can still report a suspicious message to us at reportascam@amazon.com. These reports give us information to identify bad actors and take action against them, helping us stop scams before they happen.

We have a team of more than 15,000 people globally—including machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators—dedicated to protecting our store and our customers from fraud and other forms of abuse. Always use Amazon’s official website and app when looking for deals, making a purchase, and reviewing your order history. We also stand behind every product in our store whether it is sold by Amazon or an independent small business with the A-to-z Guarantee. This protection applies to products purchased in our stores worldwide. In the unlikely event that customers experience issues with timely delivery or condition of their purchase, we will make it right by refunding or replacing it.

We are committed to protecting consumers from scammers that seek to impersonate us to take advantage of the trust customers place in us. We have zero tolerance for these criminals who pretend to be Amazon to commit fraud. We will continue to pursue bad actors and hold them accountable. We will also continue to work with credible organisations to educate consumers and empower them with the tools they need to protect themselves.