At Amazon, our vision is to build a world where consumers are confident that they won’t fall prey to bad actors who impersonate our brand or anyone else’s. We consistently work to protect our customers from scams by building innovative technologies that shield accounts and detect fraudulent attempts, create educational initiatives to help consumers know it’s really us, and foster partnerships with law enforcement to hold bad actors accountable. We also have teams of machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators around the globe dedicated to protecting customers from scams.
As criminal actors constantly create new ways of developing scams, it’s worth taking stock of how their methods change, how you can stay safe, and how Amazon works to protect customers.
Scammers’ methods are constantly evolving. For example, in April and May of 2025, scam reports from our customers worldwide showed a shift in bad actor objectives for the first time this year. Previously, the most common aim of scammers had been to gain unauthorised access to Amazon customer accounts. However, attempts to trick customers into making unauthorised payments rose to 38% worldwide in May (from 28% in April), becoming the highest reported objective.
In Australia, bad actors are increasingly attempting to scam customers through unsolicited phone calls and emails, often impersonating an Amazon representative. Scams such as these can often involve a bad actor creating a false sense of urgency related to customer accounts or an issue with an order. Their goal is to pressure customers into sharing sensitive information. So far in 2025, Amazon customers in Australia have reported that email has been the most common method through which scammers have contacted them.
Alongside Amazon’s efforts to combat bad actors, there are steps customers can take too. Here are our top tips and resources to help you stay safe as you shop with Amazon.
1. We will never ask for payments over phone or email
We will not ask for payment over the phone or email—only in our mobile app, on our website. We will not call and ask you to make a payment or bank transfer on another website.
2. Be wary of false urgency
Scammers will often pressure you to act immediately. Take time to verify any urgent requests, and if you are unsure, reach out to Amazon customer service directly.
3. We will never ask you to make purchases outside of Amazon
Scammers may try to ask you to send money outside of the Amazon website or mobile app, via a third-party website or wire transfer. Amazon will never ask you to complete a purchase outside of our website or app.
4. We won’t ask you to make a purchase via gift cards
Redeeming an Amazon.com.au Gift Card is a safe way to shop on the Amazon website and app. But no legitimate sale on Amazon will ever require you to pay specifically with gift cards. Learn more about protecting yourself from gift card fraudsters here.
5. Watch out for claims about an unexpected order
Fraudsters may contact you about the purchase of a product or service you were not expecting. Verify your orders by logging into your Amazon account on desktop or via the mobile app, and confirm your purchase history before taking any action.
Amazon sends regular emails to our millions of customers and publicly shares insights gleaned from our customer reports to flag any trends in scams to help our customers identify and avoid scammers. Customers can also stay up to date on the latest trends in scams here.
The more frequently scams are reported to Amazon, the better our tools get at identifying bad actors so we can take action against them. Customers can report suspicious communications at amazon.com/reportascam. Even if you are not an Amazon customer, you can still report suspicious activity to us via reportascam@amazon.com.
And customers can check out our website for further information about specific scams, and how to stay safe including:
- How to identify fake emails
- How to identify fake text messages
- How to identify fake phone calls
- How to identify fake websites
By working together across industries and around the world, we can build a world where consumers navigate their lives confident that they will not fall victim to scams.