Amazon Is Suing to Stop SMS Raffle Scams
If youve received a text message claiming youve won an Amazon raffle or been selected for a special prize congratulations youve been targeted by scammers. Amazon is now fighting back with lawsuits and honestly its about time.
The company has filed suit against individuals and entities behind SMS phishing campaigns that use Amazons name and branding to trick people into handing over personal information and money. According to the FTC, these types of scams have exploded during the pandemic as more people shop online and expect legitimate communications from retailers.
The scam typically works like this: you get a text saying youve won a prize or theres a problem with your Amazon order. Click the link and youre taken to a fake website designed to harvest your login credentials credit card info or both. Sometimes they ask for a small “processing fee” which is just straight up theft.
Its the kind of thing that particularly targets older people who might not be as savvy about digital threats but honestly anyone can get caught. These scammers have gotten quite sophisticated. The fake sites look almost identical to the real thing. Even folks who work in tech have been momentarily fooled before catching themselves.
Amazon says its invested heavily in detection and takedown efforts working with law enforcement and internet service providers to shut down these operations. But its a game of whack-a-mole. Take one down and three more pop up. The lawsuits are meant to create legal consequences and hopefully deter future scammers.
Some practical advice since were here: Amazon will never ask for your password via text. They wont ask for payment via gift cards. And if something seems too good to be true – like winning a raffle you never entered – it definitely is. When in doubt go directly to amazon.com or the app rather than clicking any links.
The fact that one of the worlds largest companies has to resort to lawsuits to protect its customers from this kind of fraud says something rather depressing about the state of online security in 2021. We can put rovers on Mars but we cant stop text message scams. Brilliant.
