
India is home to a flourishing network of scammers who run illegal operations from call centres that masquerade as legitimate businesses. Many of these scams target customers of Amazon and Microsoft, two of the biggest names in tech. Now, for the first time, these companies have teamed up to fight back against these fraudsters.
These call centres had duped more than 2,000 Amazon and Microsoft customers mainly in the US, but also in other countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Amazon says that this operation was based on a joint criminal referral made with Microsoft through joint prosecution agreements in the US and India, as they shared a common enemy. Both companies provided the CBI with evidence and information to enhance the effectiveness of this operation.
Scammers often use the names of Microsoft and Amazon to lure unsuspecting customers, pretending to be trusted entities. Both companies have stated in the press release that they will continue to work with Indian law enforcement agencies as well as authorities from other affected countries to tackle this industry-wide problem.
“Amazon will remain vigilant and persistent in our efforts to stay one step ahead of fraudsters, but we cannot win this fight alone. We encourage others in the industry to join us as a united front against criminal activity,” said Kathy Sheehan, vice president and associate general counsel, Business Conduct & Ethics.
Amazon also revealed that it had taken down more than 20,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers that were part of impersonation schemes in 2022, and reported hundreds of bad actors around the world to authorities.
To prevent such scams, the ecommerce giant advises customers to verify their orders and communication history directly on Amazon by logging into their account and visiting the Message Center. It also reminds that Amazon will never ask for payment over the phone or email, only on its mobile app, website, or physical stores.