It may be the most wonderful time of the year but after the recent Target breach, many customers find it difficult to account for their Christmas finances.
Just a few days ago, the country's most popular store confessed that their system has been recently hacked, affecting over 40 million debit and credit card accounts. Since then, thieves have found their recent outlet to freeload a few gifts for themselves- Amazon.
Scams like order cancellations and fake invoices are currently swarming unknowing customers. According to Better Business Bureau, the Amazon scam of order cancellation sends out an email with the title, "Your Cancellation" plus an order number. Once customers click it, their system is greeted with a malware. This malware will penetrate the browser's running processes in order to steal any auto-saved passwords of the user.
BBB advises recipients to never open this kind of email, especially if it contains an 8-digit order number and if the IP address contains a string of numbers with a directory name. The best thing to do is to go directly to the Amazon site, check your orders and see if any of the numbers match.
Another Amazon scam is the fake invoice, in which scammers send a 'billing' statement to a customer. If these users are receiving and downloading these emails via a client and not have their spam settings adjusted correctly, malware is set to affect their system, like a Trojan virus.
While it may be that time of the year for everyone to shop, it is also the time of the year for hackers and scammers to take advantage of people. Considering the customers who were affected by the Target breach also shop in Amazon, scams currently plague the online store.
Experts strongly advise everyone to read Amazon's comprehensive guide on scams in their official website and always double check the sender's email address. It also pays to be always vigilant and avoiding any auto-saved passwords especially in bank accounts accessed online.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
