Has Amazon contacted you to confirm a recent purchase you didn\u2019t make or to tell you that your account has been hacked? According to the FTC\u2019s new Data Spotlight<\/a>, since July 2020, about one in three people who have reported a business impersonator scam<\/a> say the scammer pretended to be Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These scams can look a few different ways. In one version, scammers offer to \u201crefund\u201d you for an unauthorized purchase but \u201caccidentally transfer\u201d more than promised. They then ask you to send back the difference. What really happens? The scammer moves your own money from one of your bank accounts to the other (like your Savings to Checking, or vice versa) to make it look like you were refunded. Any money you send back to \u201cAmazon\u201d is your money (not an overpayment) \u2014 and as soon as you send it out of your account, it becomes theirs. In another version of the scam, you\u2019re told that hackers have gotten access to your account \u2014 and the only way to supposedly protect it is to buy gift cards and share the gift card number and PIN on the back. Once that information is theirs, the money is, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some ways to avoid an Amazon impersonator scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you spotted this scam? Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think someone has gotten access to your accounts or personal information, visit\u00a0IdentityTheft.gov<\/a>. There, you\u2019ll find steps to take to see if your identity has been misused, and how to report and recover from identity theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n