Amazon Prime Day deals are here – but don’t fall victim to these scam websites
Lots of Amazon related domains are being registered as Prime Day starts – and most are malicious
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Amazon Prime Dayis here now, but alongside all the great deals to be had, shoppers have been warned to be careful when browsing.
A studyfrom Check Point Research(CRP) has found scammers are impersonatingAmazonor affiliates to trick online shoppers - and in the last 30 days alone, over 1,000 new Amazon related domains have been registered, 88% of which were identified as suspicious.
Many of these domains are ‘parked’ or not in use, but could be activated in the coming days, or used in phishing attacks. The scams come in a number of forms, but commonly advise customers to update their payment methods to ‘access’ prime benefits - and of course then steal their sensitive information.
Prime targets
As Amazon Prime Day grows in popularity, such scams have become sadly more common - and because the event specifically encourages customers to order within a specific time frame to access deals and benefits, fraudsters pressure victims into acting fast with urgent calls to action.
The deception goes beyond just emails too, with some criminals going as far as to call customers to ‘inform’ them that their memberships are missing information or a payment method - data that they will collect and exploit.
Every year around Prime Day,bogus sites pop-upat an accelerated rate looking to take advantage of shoppers looking for discounts.
To stay safe this year, CPR recommends checking URLs and email addresses carefully, common misspellings are often used to trick users by impersonating a trusted site. Also, look for HTTPS website URLs, which indicate a more secure connection.
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We know the deals on Prime Day can be pretty juicy, but be wary of any that seem unrealistic - trust your instincts on sales, an iPhone for $10 is probably less than legit. Ideally, shoppers should stick to the verified Amazon website or App, and never click on links to third parties.
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Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.
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