Here is the basic information to shop on Amazon, the real one, safely avoiding falling into the traps of scammers
Shopping on Amazon during Black Friday can be an opportunity to get your hands on some particularly advantageous offers, at prices much lower than those usually present on the online shopping platform. However, it can happen to run into some scams: here's how to shop safely and without worries.
When you dedicate yourself to online shopping, the risk of falling victim to some scammer is always present. That's why it is of paramount importance to shop on well-known sites with a history of inspiring trust. Amazon is undoubtedly among these, although, unfortunately, despite the controls that the platform makes on its merchants the possibility of being caught by the network of some not very serious seller never disappears completely. With the right advice, however, it is possible to limit the damage to a minimum, bringing home the desired products at extremely attractive prices.
Amazon Black Friday, scams via phishing
Among the most common scams involving Amazon customers there is phishing. This is the receipt of fraudulent emails that invite you to visit certain pages indicated with links that refer to pages that invite you to enter your login credentials and then store them. Of course, the link contained in the email does not lead to the real page of Amazon, but to a site that imitates it.
In any case, to avoid falling into this trap, even more concrete during the hectic period of Black Friday, just pay attention to the suspicious emails and avoid entering your data in forms in pages with url that refer outside the platform.
Amazon Black Friday, scams via gift card
Sometimes it can happen to receive some strange requests from third party sellers, such as to make the payment of an object through an Amazon gift card. Even in this case, it is evident that this is part of a scam: once the gift card number is sent, the malicious fake seller will retain the data and disappear into the horizon.
So, it is better to contact the customer service of the shopping platform, reporting what happened and providing all the references, including the name of the seller and the number of the gift card provided.
Gift cards are at the center of other scams as well, such as those included in emails requesting the purchase of a gift card, usually from people you think you know (but then turn out to be false interpretations, once the email address of the sender has been carefully verified), and then communicating their numbers.
Of course, once the purchase has been made and the references of the cards have been sent, the sender disappears without a trace. It is therefore better to avoid responding to such emails, first contacting the real sender and asking for confirmation of the request.
Amazon Black Friday, scams via brushing
Another type of scam is what is called "brushing", that is through the receipt of a package containing goods never ordered, with the request to leave a positive review on Amazon. Obviously, even in this case we are dealing with third-party sellers and not directly from the platform.
In this case, the threat is represented by the fact that one's data might have been stolen somehow, from some database where they were previously collected. In case it happens, it is always recommended to get in touch with Amazon through the phone number or chat, reporting what happened so that the company can make all the necessary investigations to protect your privacy.
Amazon Black Friday, how to shop safely
To avoid all these scams just remember some key points of the relationship between customer and Amazon. In fact, the platform never sends emails, text messages or makes phone calls requesting you to log in to the site, either for purely technical matters or to collect any prizes for which you have been drawn. So, in all likelihood, it could be some scammer ready to steal our account data.
All messages that look suspicious, use similar graphics but with clearly visible errors in grammar or page structure are fakes or attempts to scam. The same applies if, unfortunately, you should click on the links contained, you should find yourself on landing pages not very reassuring: better close and contact Amazon.
Also the transactions, as already seen, must always take place directly through the platform and not on external sites that do not allow the tracking of movements. In fact, Amazon ensures that payments made on its site are always checked, even when they are third-party sellers, so it is better not to risk and enjoy the Black Friday discounts completely.
Now that we have given you all the information you need to shop safely on Amazon, all that remains is to wish you a happy Black Friday.