If you are going online shopping tomorrow make sure you check your inbox and read the latest alerts from Amazon.
One of the biggest shopping days of the year gets underway tomorrow with the big Black Friday sales officially kicking off from midnight. There will be swathes of offers to be bagged on products such as smartphones, TVs, tablets, headphones and broadband but shoppers who don’t stay alert could end up with a nasty surprise.
That’s the latest warning from Amazon with the UK retailer urging customers to be on high alert during this popular time of year. With so many of us rushing to pick up a deal, it offers the ideal time for cyber crooks to also try and cash in. According to stats from the team at Action Fraud, UK shoppers lost over £11.5 million to cyber criminals during last year’s festive season.
In a bid to stop that startling figure from getting bigger in 2024, Amazon has sent out an email alerting customers to some of the biggest online dangers at the time of year. The message warns shoppers to watch out for messages that suggest they need to verify their accounts or phone calls that ask for personal data, including passwords.
Those receiving texts or emails with deals that look too good to be true should also be wary before tapping on links or handing over credit card details.
If you are worried by the thought of being scammed this Black Friday, here are some of the top tips from Amazon to make sure you stay safe.
Tips to protect yourself from impersonation scams
Scammers posing as various organisations like Amazon may send you calls, texts, and emails with various tactics to try to deceive you to provide personal information or sign-in credentials.
What to watch out for?
Scammers may tell you there is a fraud investigation and you must “verify” your account or claim there is an unauthorised or fraudulent activity on your Amazon account.
How can you avoid being scammed?
Amazon will never ask you to share your password, account sign-in One-Time Password (OTP), or verify sensitive personal information over the phone. Visit the Message Centre on Amazon.co.uk or on the app to review authentic emails from Amazon.
Go directly to its website, and go to Your Account to make changes to your billing and account information.
Customer Service is available 24/7 to help with any questions you may have.
Keep others safe
If you receive communication — a call, text, or email — that you think may not be from Amazon, please report it to us at amazon.co.uk/reportascam.
Ahead of Black Friday, Amazon UK also says it is supporting the efforts of the Stop! Think Fraud campaign to help protect customers from scams.
The company also says users should consider setting up 2-step verification (2SV) on their accounts as this makes it far harder for scammers to access things without permission.
For those not in the know, 2-step verification requires a unique code to be sent to a second device before a new login is able to take place.
This is clearly a very good time to go online shopping but just be careful before buying anything online and never hand over any personal details as this could be a very costly mistake.
