As India gears up for the Great Indian Festival starting 23rd September, Amazon India has announced new initiatives to protect shoppers from rising cases of online fraud and impersonation scams. To strengthen awareness, the company has partnered with the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, under the “Scam-Free September” campaign.
Ashwini Samraj, Director, Public Relations & Communications, Amazon India, said, “Festivals should fill your home with joy, not worry. If anything you receive makes your heart race like – ‘act now;’ ‘pay a fee;’ ‘confirm a strange purchase’ – treat that as a red flag, not a reason to click. Log in to the Amazon app or website to verify what’s real, lean on our protections, and report anything suspicious so we can help stop it for you and for others.”
The campaign will run across media and digital platforms to help customers spot scams early and shop with confidence this festive season. According to Amazon, while the festival brings exciting deals and a wide product selection, it also attracts fraudsters attempting to mislead customers with fake offers and urgent payment requests.
Amazon highlighted that in 2023, two-thirds of global impersonation scams involved fake “order” or “account” issues. Most of these scams originated outside the platform – through emails, text messages, messaging apps, or phone calls – where criminals impersonated popular brands.
Typical tactics include:
- Claims that an account is “suspended”.
- Requests to verify or confirm orders and payments.
- Urgent prompts to click links or pay outside Amazon’s platform.
Amazon urges customers to follow a few simple practices – 1) Pause and Verify before responding to any suspicious link or message, 2) check ‘Your Orders’ directly in the app or website – if it’s not there, it’s not real, 3) Amazon never asks for payment via phone, gift cards, or third-party links, and 4) contact support only through the official app or website.
Amazon said it continues to invest heavily in technology and investigation teams to protect customers. Recent efforts include:
- Authenticating official emails with the Amazon smile logo in major inboxes.
- Taking down tens of thousands of phishing websites and thousands of impersonation-linked phone numbers in 2024 alone.
- Deploying machine learning scientists, engineers, and investigators to monitor and block fraudulent activities.
To stay safe this festive season, customers are advised to:
- Verify purchases in-app via ‘Your Orders’.
- Avoid false urgency in scam messages.
- Never pay with gift cards for support or fees.
- Report suspicious messages: 1) Use the in-app self-service tool, 2) Email reportascam@amazon.com, 3) Forward phishing attempts to stop-spoofing@amazon.com
All purchases on Amazon.in are covered under the A-to-Z Guarantee, which ensures protection in case of delivery issues or product condition concerns. The company emphasized that the safest shopping experience is always through the official Amazon app or website.
