Scammers are constantly refining their tactics and everyone needs to be vigilant. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report for FY 2023-24, there was a near three-fold increase in reported cases of fraud using digital payment gateways to 36,075, up from 13,564 in the previous 12months. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s Global State of Scams report estimates that consumers lost over $1 trillion globally in 2023. Scammers use a combination of sophisticated techniques as well as social engineering to exploit consumer trust.
How scammers trick consumers
Using contact via email, phone calls, text, social media, and other communication tools, scammers pretend to be legitimate, well-known brands and institutions, like Amazon, and design scams that manipulate and abuse consumers. Unfortunately, scammers’ schemes continue to steal from consumers.
Lottery scams are a common type of gift card scam. In this, customers may receive an unexpected email or SMS informing that they can multiply their money in an online contest or lottery that's run by a reputed organisation. You may be asked to send in enrollment fees in the form of an Amazon Pay Gift Card to a specific email. Always be suspicious of anyone who contacts you for multiplying your money. Verify the reward/gaming scheme from authorised sources before investing.
Of all the scams impersonating Amazon reported by our customers in India so far in 2024, the most commonly reported scam is false messages pretending to be from Amazon asking customers to verify a product order. We actively encourage our customers to not be embarrassed about being targeted by scammers and to escalate the issues to us. While many of these scams occur outside our marketplace and our protected communication channels, the more customers report scams to us, the better our tools get at patterns bad actors follow so that we can work to stop them. In India, customers have multiple options for reporting scams. These include the national helpline for reporting frauds (1930) and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in/).
We are continuing to develop solutions and innovate on behalf of customers to address this shared challenge alongside others. Amazon does not have all the solutions to these issues, but we actively work with other stakeholders that are working on cross-sector solutions to address them. Here are some steps we continue to work on:
Enabling self-reporting for early detection of scams
Stopping scams at the source requires accurate and up-to-date information about scammers’ latest schemes and target victims. With scams happening off our marketplace, we rely on customer reports for our investigations. To gather information on these experiences, Amazon has a self-reporting tool, amazon.in/reportascam, which is available to India customers in more than 8 languages on their mobile phone or desktop.
Working across the private and public sector to stop scams at the source
Scammers often use legitimate services from trusted entities worldwide to perpetrate their schemes, making it crucial for scam-fighting organisations to share information responsibly. In India, Amazon's campaigns are aligned with the vision of the government and law enforcement agencies to combat scams. One such initiative is our flagship social media campaign, ‘Mission GraHAQ,’ launched in partnership with the Uttar Pradesh Police, which reached nearly 3 million people. We also collaborate with organisations like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in the U.S. and the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) to gather information on incidents where bad actors impersonate Amazon. Our investigation teams actively participate in cross-industry groups, working together on joint enforcement actions. These efforts have yielded early successes, such as our 2023 partnership with Microsoft and the Central Bureau of Investigation, which led to the dismantling of over 70 fraudulent call centers in India.
Helping scam victims
If customers fall victim to a scam, they need to be able to quickly report it and understand how to move forward, especially if they have lost money. At Amazon, we have specialised teams that offer support to customers who believe they may have been a victim of a scam.
Build awareness through authentic and consistent communication
Keeping in mind the need to bring stronger awareness among customers, Amazon sends regular emails to our customers and publicly shares insights from our customer reports to help flag any trends with our Scam Trends alerts. Additionally, we debunk common scam tactics by telling customers what we will not do in our communications, like “Amazon will not request that you purchase gift cards for any service” and “Amazon will not ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service.” We will continue to integrate scam prevention into our customer experience through alerts, notifications, and other helpful reminders.
Tech and tools that makes impersonating Amazon harder
We have made it harder for bad actors to impersonate Amazon through the use of industry-leading tools, including the adoption of secure email capability. This makes it easier for customers to identify authentic emails from Amazon. We have teams of machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators around the globe dedicated to protecting customers from scams. These teams proactively identify and take down impersonating accounts by monitoring as well as reviewing customer reports.
Amazon strives to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, which includes ensuring that scammers are not using our brand to take advantage of people who trust us. At Amazon, we listen to feedback from our customers and engage in rich discussions with scam prevention leaders, consistently building innovative technologies to protect our customers from scams and detect fraudulent attempts.
While we continue to find ways to stop scams and protect consumers, concerted effort is needed by the collective ecosystem of public sector organisations, regulatory authorities and other companies. By working together across industries and around the world, we can build a world where consumers navigate their lives with confidence that they will not fall victim to scams.
