Devon and Cornwall police are warning Amazon customers not to be duped by an email 'phishing' fraud.
A tweet from the constabulary's Cyber Protect team says there are "so many of these emails around" - and urges members of the public to never divulge Amazon login and card details.
'Phishing' the fraudulent practice of sending emails, texts or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber rime Reporting Centre, says it has received several reports from victims who have been sent convincing looking emails claiming to be from Amazon.
On its website, the organisation writes: "The spoofed emails from “service@amazon.co.uk” claim recipients have made an order online and mimic an automatic customer email notification.
"In one example below, the scam email claims recipients have ordered an expensive vintage chandelier. Other reported examples include; Bose stereos, iPhone’s, cameras and luxury watches.
An example of an Amazon 'phishing' fraud email
"The emails cleverly state that if recipients haven’t authorised the transaction they can click on the help centre link to receive a full refund.
"The link leads to an authentic-looking website, which asks victims to confirm their name, address, and bank card information.
"One victim reported entering his Nationwide banking details and later found out £750 had been stolen from his account.
"After the victim notified Nationwide they cancelled the card and refunded the money in full."
Amazon says that suspicious e-mails will often contain:
Links to websites that look like Amazon.co.uk, but aren't Amazon.co.uk.
Attachments or prompts to install software on your computer.
Typos or grammatical errors.
Forged (or spoofed) e-mail addresses to make it look like the e-mail is coming from Amazon.co.uk.
In addition
Amazon will never ask for personal information to be supplied by e-mail.
Read more about identifying suspicious emails claiming to be from Amazon.
To report a fraud and cyber crime and receive a police crime reference number use our online fraud reporting tool.
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