Safety Experts Say Be Aware Of Amazon Prime Day Scams
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Monday and Tuesday will likely be Amazon's biggest and most anticipated days of the year.
It's Prime Week.
Millions of shoppers will be able to score 40, 50 and even 60 percent off electronics and other popular products. But where there's increased web traffic, the internet will also likely experience an increase in cyber scams.
According to a consumer warning from the Better Business Bureau, phishing scams are one of the most common schemes to watch for. This is where imposters pose as Amazon, hoping to reel in shopper's account and payment information.
Caitlin Driscoll, the public relations director for the Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania, told KDKA, "They claim you have a free gift or coupon to use for Prime Day. Another one is claiming there's a potential problem with your delivery. All you have to do is click on the link and re-confirm your personal information."
Email is one of the main contact methods for con artists, Driscoll said.
They may send bad e-gift cards or urgent messages with a faulty link for you to "fix" a problem with your Amazon account.
"But again, it's just a ruse to get your credit or debit card information or even just your account login details to access the information in your account," said Driscoll.
And then there's spoof websites, advertising sold-out items that shoppers just missed during the doorbuster sale. But the products and the website are both shams.
The BBB said to avoid all of this, online shoppers should look for a lock icon or an "S", which stands for secure, attached to the website URL.
Safety experts say to add two-factor authentication to your Amazon account and if you receive an email from Amazon that does not have "Amazon.com" in its domain, send it to spam.
