A few days ago I was in a video chat with someone who works at Facebook, and at one point the conversation centered on the various messaging alternatives to the independent Messenger app from the social media giant. He picked up his iPhone and showed me its screen as he scrolled through a fairly long list of scam text messages, many of them from Amazon pretending to advertise things like a winning raffle prize. I’ve already made my thoughts clear on this in previous posts: that whatever you want to say about the social network, a comparison of Messenger to something like iMessage isn’t even close when it comes to which one handles junk texts and scam texts better. . .
About those spam messages, we would like to focus on one type of them: the now ubiquitous Amazon fraudulent text messages, which have become such a problem that the Better Business Bureau has been inundated with hundreds of complaints from people. about them. And Amazon has also filed what is known as a John Doe lawsuit, where a matter is so urgent that it seeks the help of a court of law before it even learns the identity of the perpetrator.
Today’s Best Deal Pamper yourself with the best-selling sheets on the entire Amazon site List Price: $ 27.99 Price: $ 25.99 You Save: $ 2.00 (7%) Available on Amazon,. may receive a commission Buy Now Available on Amazon. can receive a commission
So what are these scam text messages that you should avoid and absolutely refrain from clicking? If, for example, you receive a text message like the one in the tweet below that says you won something, please note: you have not won anything. Because this is not real.
“Don’t click,” advises BBB. “The text message is not from Amazon and is the latest in a long line of phishing scams that have been going on since the start of the pandemic, often using the Amazon brand. The fake giveaway and suspicious link are part of a scam used to trick people into visiting a phishing website, where they unknowingly share account credentials as well as personal and financial information with scammers.
Amazon AirPods Raffle Scam – Your Account and Financial Data Could Be at Risk; Here’s how to avoid it
– MS CYRIGO (@mscyrigo) April 27, 2021
By the way, it’s not just Amazon that hackers are trying to impersonate these kinds of scam texts, it’s mostly Amazon. In 2020, for example, 771 reports of such scams mentioned Amazon to the BBB. In fact, it was the second most imitated brand after the Social Security Administration, according to BBB Scam Tracker.
Follow these tips from the office to avoid being scammed by these types of fraudulent text messages:
Don’t believe every text message you receive. Know the signs of a text scam, such as the promise of a reward and / or an unusual link. Never click on a link within a text message automatically. Please confirm the details. You know those text messages that tell you to answer “STOP” or “NO”? Do not do that. Instead, block the text and report it as spam. Sometimes spammers use it as a way to determine that, uh, this is an active phone number with a live person that I can now interact with. Today’s best offer 
Pamper yourself with the best-selling sheets on the entire Amazon site List Price: $ 27.99 Price: $ 25.99 You Save: $ 2.00 (7%) 
Available on Amazon,. may receive a commission Buy Now Available on Amazon. can receive a commission
–
