A woman has alerted others to dangers of an Amazon scam (stock) (Image: Getty)
Most of us have been the subject of a attempt in recent times – whether it be a nuisance phone call, an email asking for credit card details or even a knock at the door from so-called tradesmen.
While behaviour is often obvious, some scams can be so sophisticated they fool even the most savvy of British shoppers. That was the case for beauty expert, Molly, who took to to warn others of the perils of an ‘Amazon’ swindle.
“I’m so annoyed – I’ve been scammed today,” she began in a video. “I always delete texts and emails – I’m very clever when it comes to these and thought nobody could pull the wool over my eyes, but they have.”
Molly said she received a phone call from what appeared to be a call centre, in which a woman told her she was from the Amazon fraud team. “I was about to hang up, but she told me my account has been compromised,” she continued. However, the caller was adamant she was legitimate, instructing Molly to check the basket of her Amazon account for the receipt of an iPhone 16 order.
“So I went into my account and basket and here was no order there,” Molly said. “But then she told me to refresh the screen and then eight iPhone 16s appeared in my basket. I was frantically deleting them, but more were being added so I asked the lady what I should do.”
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Molly said she was told “not to worry” and that her Amazon account would have to be closed down – but of course that required a “one-time code” via text message. “I was pretty sure by now she was genuine,” Molly explained. “She told me to click on the one-time code and sign out of my Amazon account and then go into Google Chrome.”
Despite telling the caller she “still didn’t trust” the advice, Molly was told “not to panic” before her dog began barking loudly affecting her ability to listen to further instructions. “I told her, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t hear you’, but at then she said, ‘Oh, can you just do it’ and straight away I just thought, ‘Oh no’ and she hung up on me.”
Molly continued, telling her followers that the iPhones suddenly disappeared, as did the one-time code and the phone number the scammer called from. “Obviously I’m now worried sick – I’ve rang Amazon who told me they (scammers) can get in your basket before they even call you. So please be careful, obviously I have changed all my passwords and I have had to cancel all my bank cards as well, which is really frustrating.”
Grateful for the video, one user commented: “Haven’t heard of this scam before. Thanks for heads up.” A second revealed, meanwhile: “There was a programme on BBC1 last week about this exact scam.”
A third shared: “Had the same call yesterday. Kept her on the phone for two minutes telling her that I ordered an iPhone 20, not a 16!” Whilst a fourth advised: “Whenever someone tells me they are calling from the bank or Amazon I hang up on them and call the places myself and ask have you tried to contact me and they say whether they have it or haven’t.”
Elsewhere, a fifth person was left confused, admitting: “I don’t get it. I assume it’s Amazon app on your phone. How do they take over your app with a phone call? How do they connect to your phone?”
Molly responded: “The phones are a decoy, they’re not buying the phone, they put them in to my basket to get me to trust them. I’ve been told if you answer the call and refresh basket. Basically I’ve been told by Amazon they get in through mobile network and once you click on your app then that’s when they hack the phone.”