The Amazon gift card scam is another way thieves are attempting to get their hands on your money.
This is how it works, you would like to order a product from Amazon.
- You google to find Amazon’s phone number and you call them to order your product using your credit card. The person answering the phone does not greet you with “Hi this is Amazon how can I help you.” Instead, they wait for the caller to ask is this Amazon to which they reply yes this is Amazon how can I help you?
- You tell them you would like to order 3 bottles of Lavender Essential Oil and the rep then tells you they have that product in stock and it will cost $8.00 per bottle.
- The representative gives you a total $24 plus tax shipping and handling the total will be $50.00. He then tells you to go to your local Rite-Aid store and buy a $50 Amazon gift card then call him back to complete the purchase.
- You go to the store and buy an Amazon gift card and call him and he asks for the security code on the back of the card and he tells you you will receive your order in so many days.
What you don’t realize is you just gave the representative $50.00 and they will never ship you a product.
Ways to avoid being a victim of this scam can be found on Amazon’s website at Avoiding Payment Scams
Please leave me a comment if you have other tips or your experience so that together we can stop fraud altogether.