Not only was Prime Day back in summer 2022, Amazon just announced a second Prime member shopping event in October. They’re calling it “Prime Early Access Sale” and it’s happening October 11-12 across the globe.
Scoring some good deals ahead of the holidays could be a wonderful opportunity—but it also presents an opportunity for scammers. Why? Now that scammers know when it’s happening, they have time to lay their traps.
Just like with previous Amazon sale events, be on the lookout for:
- Fake Amazon websites. We’ve talked about this before relative to holiday shopping, but the same applies for Prime events. Scammers create real-looking websites hoping to trick you into “buying” things so they can steal your payment information.
- Phishing emails and text messages. You could also get emails or text messages that look legit but are actually phishing attempts (reminder: Five Ways to Spot a Phishing Scam). They may claim your Amazon Prime account has a payment issue, that you have rewards to use, or even send a message that contains fake delivery information.
Stay safe
Never click on links or attachments from unknown sources—and, even it looks legit, check the sender email address, website URL, or phone number. To be really safe, enter the URL address yourself and contact the sender directly (or “sender” as the case may be) by looking up the information on your own if there’s any question about your account or payment information.
Think it couldn’t happen to you? Think again. Federal Trade Commission data from 2021 shows that consumers lost more than $5.8 billion (yes, with a B) to fraud last year. That’s up more than 70 percent from 2020!
So, have fun browsing and buying—but also stay aware while you shop. If you do, you’ll get nothing but great deals during this special shopping event.
