WAYNESBORO, Pa. — Police in Franklin County are warning residents of a suspected phone scam involving callers posing as Amazon employees in an effort to gather victims' personal information.
According to Waynesboro Police, an individual is calling residents, claiming to be from Amazon's Customer Service Department. The caller informs the victim that an unusual purchase for a large amount of money has been charged to the victim's account, and they're calling to verify.
The caller then asks for the last purchase the victim made on their account, police claim. Once confirmed, they ask for the victim's zip code, date of birth, and phone number.
"This is called phishing," the police department said. "Please do not give out any information such as bank information, social security numbers, etc. to anyone. If you receive a call like this and are unsure if it is a scam, please disconnect the call and reach out to your local police department."
Amazon recently shared some tips to help avoid scams like these.
- Verify purchases on Amazon. If you receive a message about the purchase of a product or service, do not respond to the message or click on any link in the message; instead, log into your Amazon account or use the Amazon mobile app and confirm that it is really in your purchase history before taking any action.
- Trust Amazon’s app and website. We will not ask for payment over the phone or email—only in our mobile app, on our website, or in one of our physical stores. We will not call and ask you to make a payment or bank transfer on another website.
- Be wary of false urgency. Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they’re asking.
- Don’t be pressured into buying a gift card. We will never ask you to purchase a gift card, and no legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay with gift cards. Learn more about common gift card scams on our help pages.
- Contact us. If you’re ever unsure, it’s safest to stop engaging with the potential scammer and contact us directly through the Amazon app or website. Do not call numbers sent over text or email, or found in online search results. Remember Amazon will not ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service nor will we request payment for any customer service support.
- Check what others are saying. See if anyone else has reported a similar situation. In the U.S., Amazon has partnered with the Better Business Bureau to provide consumers a searchable Scam Tracker that enables you to search suspicious communications reported by others by email, URL, phone number, and more.
Customers can also use the Amazon self-service tool to report suspicious communications, and non-customers can email stop-spoofing@amazon.com. Our team of more than 12,000 people globally is dedicated to protecting our store and consumers from fraud and other forms of abuse.
