Amazon's supply chain is under pressure, and fraudulent emails take advantage of the situation to steal user funds!

Amazon users are being told to be on the lookout for scam emails claiming to be from online retailers , according to security experts at Avanan. It is understood that the scam is convincing and people are easily fooled because the emails look official.

The scam begins with an unsuspecting user receiving an email claiming that the order has been received and the payment has been confirmed from the account holder. The email even contains a link that takes the victim directly to Amazon's website. The scammers will allegedly make sure the invoice is for an expensive item as this will attract attention from the person receiving the invoice.

However, the scam emails also include a phone number that customers can call if they have any issues with the items they paid for. Although this phone number is not associated with Amazon, it is used by cyber thieves to exploit their victims.

According to Avanan, anyone who makes the fake call will not speak to someone immediately, but the fraudster will return the call after a few hours and then ask the caller for full credit card details to prevent the order from going through , after which the thief will use the card details to steal funds from the account.

“Holiday shopping started earlier this year due to supply chain issues and many people started stockpiling, especially on Amazon,” Avanan said of the scam. “For hackers, this was an opportunity to spoof purchase notifications to gain financial information. This attack was performed using a legitimate Amazon link, forcing the end user to make a call rather than cancel any orders. ”

"In this email, the hackers convincingly spoofed a typical Amazon order confirmation notification. All the links go directly to the Amazon website. This means that even a well-trained user will click on it , and what will really set off alarm bells is the actual email address from a Gmail address."

Security experts say if you get an email from Amazon that doesn't look right, the best thing to do is to delete it immediately. Amazon does offer advice on its website about scams , but it says it will never ask for personal information via email. It also says it will never ask to update payment information that isn't related to a user's order or subscription to an Amazon service.

Amazon scam emails