The latest attempted scam whereby fraudsters have tried to get their hands on personal details involves @Amazon and Twitter. It seems that a false account called amazonhelps2 has been targeting Amazon shoppers who were reporting problems with deliveries on the social network.
The account then privately messaged the shopper to ask for their email address and other details. The information requested included credit card number, the security code on the card, expiry date and the billing address linked to their Amazon account and card. The Twitter account used an Amazon customer support logo on its Twitter account.
Users targeted by the fraud were swift to report the scam, which coincided with Prime Day deliveries last week. Twitter has since suspended the account.
This isn’t the most sophisticated attempt at a fraud. But it does go to show that the wrongdoers are willing to experiment with new approaches and ways to coax confidential information out of web users. It’s not known if anyone, or many, people fell for this scheme. Amazon hasn’t made a comment on the incident. But they have provided advice on avoiding phishing scams.
All the usual advice applies when it comes to dealing with such phishing scams. Most of all it means engaging your common sense and caution and not doing anything online that you wouldn’t do in everyday life. In particular, when it comes to Twitter, look out for that all important blue tick which shows that Twitter has verified that the user is genuine and who they say they are.
One Response
as far as i’m concerned, if you go looking for customer support on twitter, instead of the place where you bought the thing, you’re asking to be scammed.
stop acting like you’re a 12 year old girl and learn to work email ffs.
no surprise the people who experience the most issues are looking for help in all the wrong places.