Easy Prey15 Feb 2023

Top 10 Amazon Scams with Abigail Bishop

Scammers are creatively trying to deceive and manipulate Amazon customers by getting them to do activities outside the Amazon ecosystem through texts, emails, and phone calls. Hopefully by looking at how the top scams are implemented, we can create more awareness and prevent loss.

Today's guest is Abigail Bishop. Abigail is the Head of External Relations for Scam Prevention at Amazon, where she leads the organization's outreach work to protect customers from falling victim to scams globally.

Show Notes:

[0:56] - Abigail shares her background and what she does at Amazon as the Head of External Relations for Scam Prevention.
[2:46] - Her background was originally in Public Affairs so her path to her current role in scam prevention is non-traditional.
[3:50] - There are over 12,000 employees behind the scenes at Amazon that work on scam prevention.
[5:32] - Working across borders to find perpetrators is extremely difficult and sometimes impossible.
[6:32] - Over 50% of the scams reported to Abigail's team are order confirmation scams.
[7:41] - Gift card scams continue to be common. Amazon will never ask you for payment in gift cards.
[9:04] - Amazon will never ask you to install an app or allow them to access your computer.
[10:30] - Verify any purchases on your Amazon account and report any malicious communication to Amazon's message center.
[12:46] - If you are ever contacted about Amazon for any reason, they will be able to verify all information and you can cross verify it on your account.
[14:20] - You can always reach out to Amazon's report a scam to verify any interaction you've had.
[15:45] - Amazon is driven to protecting all Amazon users.
[16:48] - Amazon Scam Prevention also sends out emails and information to help educate consumers on best practices.
[18:01] - Abigail describes some of the steps that they have taken at Amazon to offer customers validation that any contact from them is legitimate.
[19:05] - In 2022, over 20,000 phishing sites were found and shut down as well as over 10,000 phishing phone numbers.
[24:01] - Current events play a role in when and how scammers approach their attacks.
[25:21] - Because of the size and popularity of Amazon, they have the opportunity to act swiftly and cooperatively with other entities.
[28:13] - Abigail shares what Amazon has been able to develop in cooperation with BBB and other corporations publicly.
[30:30] - Amazon does have processes in place to help mitigate damage or prevent entirely data breaches.
[32:41] - The scam reporting feature on Amazon is new within the last year. They rely heavily on consumers reporting for them to be able to track scams.
[35:10] - Because of the volume of scam attempts, especially through text and email, many consumers don't have time or desire to report every single one and would rather delete and ignore.
[37:17] - What scams should be reported or prioritized to report?
[39:14] - Always check your account directly on Amazon.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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