How to safeguard against job scams impersonating Amazon

Ever received a job offer or a call for employment that requires a certain sum of money to be paid? You’ve probably been targeted by fraudsters looking to make a quick buck. It has come to the notice of Amazon India that there have been instances of impersonators making fraudulent job offers on behalf of the company in exchange for money. From dubious emails, fake WhatsApp groups, to even impersonating Amazon’s leadership, these fraudsters have been going to great lengths to steal money from unsuspecting aspirants under the pretext of providing health insurance, uniforms, and laptops.

Here are some ways to identify fake job offers and the measures undertaken by Amazon India to help fight recruitment fraud.

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• Watch out for fraudulent mails. If any correspondence is received from free web-based email accounts such as yahoo.com, gmail.com, or hotmail.com, you can be sure it’s a telltale sign of fraudulent activity. Even if the correspondence bears Amazon branding and leadership images, if it is not from an official email address, it is likely to be fictitious.
• Genuine Amazon correspondence always comes from an @amazon.com email address. Even if an email seems to have come from senior leadership from Amazon India but does not have the official Amazon email domain, it is likely to be fraudulent.
• Perpetrators also use mobile numbers or initiate contact through messaging services such as WhatsApp or Telegram. We recommend reporting the WhatsApp or Telegram group from which the message originated to the respective platform. Genuine Amazon recruiters might occasionally contact on phone for initial outreach. However, all official communications will always occur only through Amazon email addresses.
• Amazon never asks candidates to pay any sort of security deposit, documentation processing fees, training fees, uniform fees, laptop fees or even medical insurance premium. Any such request for payment should raise immediate red flags. Amazon does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process.
• Any communication that seems to create a false sense of urgency or pressure should be flagged. Amazon’s recruitment processes are designed to be thorough and transparent, without any unnecessary rush.

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There are multiple ways these fraudsters operate: from creating and sending fictitious offer letters, to creating WhatsApp groups circulating fraudulent job openings. While as a company, we only learn of them once they are reported and brought to our notice, Amazon India is proactively working towards addressing the issue. For starters, the recruitment team works diligently to first check the legitimacy of the offer letter. The entire mail trail is thoroughly examined and in case of WhatsApp groups and messages, we work closely with enforcement agencies to track and identify the IP addresses. Often times, these offers also come from people impersonating Amazon recruiters or senior leadership.

Where required, court cases are filed and the candidates seeking Amazon jobs are also sensitised against these cases by recruiters.

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• Do not pay or transfer money to anyone claiming to offer you an Amazon job. Our recruitment process is entirely free of charge.
• Do report such fraudulent approaches to law enforcement authorities as soon as possible. In case of WhatsApp or Telegram messages or group messages, do report the group.
• Beware when sharing personal information to protect yourself from potential damage.
• Do not engage with offer letters as email attachments or through any other communication channel. All offer letters from Amazon India have QR codes in them that are to be used to access and verify the authenticity of the offer letter on Amazon’s secure portal, the only legitimate source for Amazon India offer letters and employment documentation.

At Amazon, we take great pride in our reputation and the trust placed in us by our customers, employees, and the wider community. As an organisation we will continue to take action against such activities that are brought to our notice and will do our best to support authorities when such cases are filed. But please note, Amazon will not accept any liability for any losses incurred due to these fraudulent activities.