SCAM ALERT: The Amazon Remote Access Takeover Con Game

If you are a Amazon customer who is looking for a phone number to contact Amazon, watch out!   If you call Amazon you may be subject to a con by which scammers will remotely access your computer and steal all of your personal information.   Their goal:  your credit cards and control of your Amazon account.   The con is designed to convince you that an Amazon customer service representative will access your computer remotely and handle whatever transaction you need fixed.

This con is a variation on the “tech support” remote access takeover scam.  In these cases, unsuspecting consumers allow someone posing to be tech support to takeover their computer remotely.   The scammers try to convince you they’re legitimate. They’ll pretend to know about a problem on your computer. They’ll ask you to open normal files that look alarming to make you think you need help.   In recent years, these fraudsters have gotten more sophisticated.  People’s Exhibit No. 1:  The Amazon Help Center Scam.

This scam befalls consumers who try to contact Amazon by phone. Currently, because of the coronavirus, Amazon is no longer answering its official customer service number:  (888) 280-4331.  Rather than using their Help Center, which has a chat feature to contact Amazon’s customer service, some enterprising customers try to find Amazon’s phone number online through a web search, Twitter or Quora.   They’ll find things like this: (Do Not Call message added by us)

 

In one case, a customer reports calling 844-529-7339.  Some other dangerous phone numbers: 888-606-3270, 800-316-2522, 315-894-7222, 888-371-2768 and 888-341-6651.  Someone who claims to work for Amazon answers and the con begins.  TheDailyScam.com has an updated list of the phony customer service numbers.   In some cases, you’ll be contacted by someone claiming to be from Amazon to discuss a recent order.   But the real danger comes when the con-artists ask for permission to remotely access your computer so that they can “fix” the problem that you’ve called about.   That’s where the mischief begins.   Costly mischief.  Here are some of the phone numbers you want to avoid:

What To Do If An Amazon “Employee” Asks For Remote Access To Your Computer

We contacted Amazon and they assured us that there is NO scenario where an Amazon employee will ask permission to remotely access your computer.  None!   So the answer to this question is simple.  Don’t ever give permission.

What To Do If You’ve Been Hacked By A Con-Artist Using the Amazon Con

  1. Contact Amazon and request that your account be suspended or closed due to fraudulent transactions.
  2. Contact any credit card issuer and request the issuance of a new card.
  3. Contact the three credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and place a credit freeze so that no one can open new credit using your personal data.

How A Remote Access TakeOver Can Affect Your Finances

A remote takeover can be devastating to a business or individual, as the hacker gains access to tax ID, social security and bank account information.   That’s why we recommend that you place freezes on just about every account you own for a period of time.   Some consumers might want to spring for a fraud alert service offered by a number of private companies.   But, more than anything, please take a remote access takeover hack seriously.

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