NORFOLK, Va. — Next time you get a message from Amazon, make sure it's actually from Amazon.
Scammers are impersonating the company and several other popular ones, and people are falling for it.
In fact, the Federal Trade Commission and its Data Book reported that people lost $10 billion to scams in 2023. That’s $1 billion more than in 2022 and the highest ever in losses reported to the FTC, even though the number of fraud reports (2.6 million) was about the same as last year.
Emma Fletcher, a senior data researcher with the FTC, collects and analyzes this data. She says, "the level of mind control that we're now seeing in these reports, I think, is really alarming."
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A recent report that Fletcher was involved in shows that Best Buy/Geek Squad, Amazon, and PayPal are the companies people report scammers impersonate most often.
The data shows that in 2023, consumers submitted about 52,000 reports about scammers impersonating Best Buy, or its Geek Squad, followed by about 34,000 reports about scammers impersonating Amazon, and about 10,000 reports about scammers impersonating PayPal.
Fletcher says people are targeted in a number of ways. She says it starts with an email that tells a person their account with Geek Squad is about to auto-renew for around $400. They’re told they need to contact the company if they do not intend to auto-renew and pay that fee.
"Naturally, people get these emails, and they think, 'Whoa, you know, I don't even have an account with Geek Squad, I better get right on this. I don't want to be charged $400.' So, they call the number in the email to let the supposed Geek Squad know that they don't want to auto-renew," Fletcher says.
When people call, that's when they are advised the charges have already been placed. The alleged Geek Squad member offers to issue a refund if they are given access to the caller's computer.
"I know that sounds a little unusual, but these scammers can be very slick in convincing people that [it] somehow makes sense in the moment," Fletcher says.
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Fletcher says scammers hope posing as these well-known companies will gain your trust and in turn, they'll gain access to your account.
As for money lost, people reported losing the most to scammers impersonating Microsoft and Publishers Clearing House.
"The Publishers Clearing House impersonation scams work by making people think they've actually won the sweepstakes," she says.
While the FTC says scams that start with a phone call are going down, fraud with emails and text messages are up.
It's best to be suspicious of any unknown communication you receive. Call the company directly if you have any hesitations and never click on links that you are randomly sent.
