Scammers Posing As Amazon Trying To Trick Consumers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- If you shop online, be aware of a phony email that's circulating.
It appears to be from Amazon, but it's not. It states that someone from Germany has requested to change your Amazon password and asks that you click on a link if it wasn't you.
Caitlin Driscoll, from the Better Business Bureau, says it's another example of scammers pretending to be a popular company.
"Scammers will always try to use well-known, highly-respected company names or brands people are familiar with," said Driscoll.
With the help of KDKA's resident computer expert John Yurkovich, we clicked on the link – something you should never do.
We found a page that looks very much like Amazon's design, and it asks for you to sign in.
"They make it look exactly like the real site," said Yurkovich.
"They could actually log onto your account and place orders," said Driscoll.
She says there's another danger, too. Even if you don't provide any information, just clicking on the link could download a virus that could steal information off your computer.
With a little detective work, Yurkovich was able to discover that the phony email likely came from Ecuador.
There are red flags you should look for in scam emails, including misspelled words. This email spells "recognized" as "recognised."
"If there are incorrect spellings, grammatical errors, that's always a red flag that it could have originated from overseas," said Driscoll.
Also, if you hover your cursor over the link, but not click on it, you can see where it would take you. In this case, it's an address that's clearly not Amazon.
Finally, Amazon has a section of its site that warns people about scam emails.
A video there states, "Amazon never sends unsolicited email attachments, and Amazon never asks for personal information via email."
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