Provide payment details once, please! Criminals are currently posing as employees of the online retailer Amazon. If you fall for the scam, you should act quickly.
A friendly voice on the phone asking to release payments or to install remote maintenance software? If you get a call like this, it’s best to hang up immediately. That’s what the consumer protection portal Watchlist Internet advises – because: There is a high probability that these are fake calls that are currently being made on behalf of Amazon. Amazon only calls when customers request it.
Criminals pretend to be employees of the online mail order company and pretend that there is a problem with an order. “The reasons for the call mostly sound plausible, especially if you’re actually expecting an Amazon package,” says Thorsten Behrens from the Vienna-based portal. Therefore, there is a risk of falling for this scam known as spoofing in good faith.
The following must be observed:
Basically, the police advise:
Those affected should critically question every call from strangers, and should not be put under pressure, unsettled or intimidated, even if threatened with fines or costs. The best thing to do is hang up right away, the police also advise – and also give the following tips:
If you have released personal data or payments, Watchlist Internet advises you to contact your bank immediately and describe the case. Installed programs that criminals could misuse as spy software should be uninstalled immediately, and if in doubt, the computer should be restarted. “Make a report to the police,” advises Behrens. Amazon itself has set up the e-mail address stop-spoofing@amazon.com for the scam, to which cases can also be reported.
