How to Avoid Amazon Scams

Amazon is the most well-known global ecommerce platform. Operating since 1994, it started as an online bookstore but now you can find pretty much any product on the site. Thanks to its convenience, quality assurance and customer-protection policies, 89% of buyers are more likely to buy products from Amazon than other ecommerce sites. All things considered, it is among the safest platforms for online shopping.

Sadly, not even Amazon is safe from scammers. Despite the platform’s strict seller verification processes, scammers do slip through the cracks and it can be a while before they are caught. Before being booted off Amazon, a scammer can end up trapping several victims and steal their money.

Amazon scams can occur from both sides. It is not always the seller who scams the buyer as there are many unscrupulous people who place orders with the intention of defrauding the seller or even Amazon itself. Fake job offers from people posing as Amazon executives are also common. In this article, we will only be looking at scams that affect buyers on Amazon.

Types of Amazon Scams

Fake products: Counterfeits and bait-and-switch are scams that you need to watch out for. Sellers might list products as genuine using images and descriptions of the real product but deliver fakes instead. Many buyers may not even realize that they have been sent counterfeit products. In other cases, the product may be completely different compared to the listed item. In 2020 alone, Amazon blocked 10 billion listings of counterfeit products.
Fake reviews: Fake reviews are a shockingly common problem on Amazon, with as many as 67% of reviews in certain categories being flagged as ‘questionable’. A recent data leak also revealed a large-scale fake review scam involving 200,000 individuals.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t trust reviews at all, rather you should not trust them blindly. Many sellers also offer free products or gift cards in exchange for positive reviews.

Payment Scams: Some Amazon sellers may contact you off the platform and offer a discount if you agree to make a purchase outside the platform. This can be extremely risky as Amazon’s customer satisfaction guarantees no longer apply once you take the transaction off Amazon. If the seller sends a damaged or fake product, or doesn’t send anything at all, it will be very hard to get your money back.
Fake Customer Support Scams: There are scammers posing as customer support representatives from Amazon who call buyers regarding fake problems with their account or order. In many cases, they somehow obtain information that you would assume that only Amazon would have. They may ask for sensitive information such as person or payment details over the phone, which they will then use for identity theft or unauthorized transactions.
Phishing Scams: There are also several variations of emails and messages that attempt to mimic those sent by Amazon. These contain fake links that lead to login or payment pages that look exactly like Amazon, but send the information to scammers. Variations include messages about free gifts, failed delivery, returns or replacements, renewal or cancellation of Prime subscriptions and more.