Millions of customers order daily on Amazon, and that is exactly what makes the platform a popular target for scammers. We will show you the most common tricks used by scammers and how to protect yourself from them.
Amazon is the most important platform for many when it comes to online shopping. Millions of customers order here daily, and where a lot of money flows, scammers are not far behind. They use the name of Amazon to send emails, texts or even packages that appear deceptively authentic. Their goal: your data, your money, or both. As reported by FastCompany, this year some schemes are circulating that frequently appear in Germany. MeinMMO presents the most popular scams and also explains how you can protect yourself against them.
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Scam No. 1: Typosquatting & Fake Shops
How does the scam work? Scammers register domains that are confusingly similar to the real Amazon URL. Such as “amaz0n.de” or sites with other endings like .top, .xyz or “amazon-onlineshop.com”. Just a small typo is enough to land on a deceptively authentic fake page. There you are often asked to log in or enter payment details. Typosquatting is often used, according to Hideez, to carry out phishing, malware installation, or to collect personal data.
How to protect yourself: Pay attention to the URL; only amazon.de or your respective country domain ending is correct. No typos, extra characters or other endings. It’s safer to enter the address manually or go via the app/a bookmark. According to Cybersecuritynews, fake domains, especially during major shopping events like Prime Day, are particularly popular with scammers.
Scam No. 2: Fake Order Confirmation
How does the scam work? You receive an email with the subject “Your order has been shipped” – for an expensive product that you never ordered. The scammers hope that you panic and click on the “Cancel Order” link. In reality, the link leads to a fake page where login and payment details are requested.
How to protect yourself: Check directly in your Amazon account under “Orders” if the supposed shipment actually exists; if not, it is an attempted fraud. Amazon itself has warned its customers via email about fake orders and explicitly recommends checking such sent confirmations not through links in emails, but through the internal message center or the login area of the app. You can access the message center after logging in on the Amazon website via “My Account” → “Message Center”. In the app, go to your account page and then click on the bell.
