The holidays are a busy time for shopping, celebrations, and unfortunately, an increase in scam activity. Just as shoppers are preparing for the festive season, scammers, like Scamta Claus, are hard at work utilising sophisticated technology and social engineering tricks to exploit trust and steal from victims.

The National Anti-Scam Centre has received over 181,000 scam reports from Australians so far in 2024, with numbers expected to rise over the holiday period. Scammers impersonate trusted brands like Amazon through unsolicited emails, phone calls, texts, social media and more, luring people with too-good-to-be-true offers and phishing schemes.

While Amazon saw a 15% decrease in customers falling victim last year, no one is immune to these scams. We are diligently working to help educate people to avoid scams, ensure consumers know it’s us, and ensure scammers are held accountable.

Staying vigilant is crucial and when it comes to protecting yourself from scams, knowledge is power.

Here are 4 common holiday scam tactics to watch out for:

1. We will not ask you to download or install any software to connect with customer service


We will never ask you to download or install or install any software to connect with our customer service team. If you’re ever unsure if contact is authentic, it’s safest to stop engaging and contact us directly through the Amazon mobile app or website.

2. We will not ask for payments over phone or email


We will not ask for payment over the phone or email—only in our mobile app, on our website. We will not call and ask you to make a payment or bank transfer on another website.

3. Text about an unfamiliar purchase? Don't engage


If you receive a message about the purchase of a product or service, do not respond to the message or click on any link in the message; instead, log into your Amazon account or use the Amazon mobile app and confirm that it is really in your purchase history before taking any action.

4. We will not ask you to purchase gift cards for any service


We will never ask you to purchase a gift card or “verification cards”, as some scammers call them for products or services. Learn more about common gift card scams on our help pages.

How Amazon is protecting customers?

We are making it harder for bad actors through secure email capabilities and industry-leading fraud prevention tools. Our team uses machine learning to rapidly remove phishing websites and deactivate scam phone numbers - over 40,000 websites and 10,000 numbers in 2023 alone.

Our team is committed to educating consumers, ensuring you know it's really us, and holding scammers accountable. Stay scam-safe by keeping these practical tips in mind as you shop.

What to do if you see something suspicious?

If you encounter anything suspicious, learn here on how to report a scam.

Also read, how to renew your Amazon Prime membership