Prime Day scams: Which? finds copycat Amazon website and fake Prime Day ads
Which? is warning Amazon Prime Day shoppers to be alert to scams after Which? finds a fake Amazon ad and website claiming to sell 'unwanted stock'.
Amazon Prime Day begins on Tuesday, 8 July, offering four days of deals and discounts exclusively to Amazon Prime members. Scammers often impersonate Amazon - the cybersecurity company NordVPN has uncovered more than 120,000 phishing, malware and scam websites impersonating Amazon in the past two months.
NordVPN detected and blocked 92,000 phishing sites with Amazon in the web address and discovered almost 21,000 websites claiming to be Amazon and installing malicious files on users' computers. The company also found 11,000 scam websites trying to sell fake goods.
It confirmed that most people encounter these sites through phishing emails peddling fake deals, as well as scam social media and search engine ads.
In the days leading up to this summer's Prime Day sale, Which? spotted a fake Amazon ad on Facebook and Instagram which leads to a copycat website.
Below, we explain what we found and how you can spot and avoid Amazon scams.
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Amazon Prime Day scam
A Facebook account that appears to be Vietnam-based posted five identical scam ads across Facebook and Instagram promoting an ‘Amazon Prime Day giveaway'.
It says: ‘Take advantage of the great savings that come with the large warehouses that are massively and aggressively clearing out slow-moving stock’ and leads to a malicious website created recently on 30 May.
Which? reported the scam ads to Meta using its in-platform reporting system.
The website linked to the ads claimed to sell clearance Amazon items at super-low prices due to the products being 'unwanted stock'.
We traced images used on the website back to other dodgy giveaways. The website also used up-to-date Amazon branding.
We reported the dodgy website to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and shared our findings with Amazon.
Amazon told us: ‘These are not legitimate Amazon messages, and scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon put consumers at risk. We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance.
'We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.’
Read our expert advice on the best Amazon Prime Day deals
5 ways to spot dodgy Amazon Prime Day deals
- You’re rushed into taking advantage of an offer quickly.
- You’re asked to reveal a lot of personal and financial information.
- The offer is posted from a random social media account or sent from an unrecognisable email address that has nothing to do with the brand.
- The website you’re on or led to isn’t the official brand website.
- The website was created recently. Type it into who.is to see when it was made.
Reporting scam ads and websites
You can report scam ads on social media by clicking the three dots on the top right corner of the ad and selecting 'report.'
Dodgy websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
You can also report scams impersonating Amazon to the platform on its website.
If you lose any money to a scam, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card. Also, report it to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.
