Amazon has to deal with fraud and hacking

If you're an Amazon shopper, that means you have a problem. The company recently revealed that more than a hundred sellers using the company's platform were victims of what the company is describing as an "extensive fraud operation."

Only a few specifics are known about the conduct of the fraud operation. The best available evidence suggests that the hackers behind it employ phishing tactics to trick Amazon sellers into giving up their login credentials, which allows them to bypass Amazon's robust built-in security protocols.

Once they have the access they need...

The fraudsters can move quickly to change the seller's bank details to accounts they control, most commonly Barclays and Prepay accounts.  As a result, any time a customer makes a purchase from them, the money flows not to the seller, but to the hackers.  Since the seller never gets the money, they never send the product, which means that the person buying from them gets stuck holding the bill.

In their formal statement regarding the matter, Amazon made it clear that neither Barclays nor Prepay were in any way directly involved in or responsible for the bad actors misusing their accounts, stressing that they had simply become "innocently mixed up in the wrongdoing."

There are a few tells to be on the lookout for when shopping on Amazon that point to the possibility that a seller has been compromised.

Our perspective

The product descriptions will often be poorly written and riddled with spelling errors.  The prices will sometimes be wildly inflated, and when you read user product reviews for the item in question, they'll often describe a completely different item than the one you think you're buying.

If you see any of those signs, contact the seller and steer clear until they've investigated the matter and resolved it.

Meanwhile, check out this report

Free Executive Report: 10 Hidden IT Risks That Might Threaten Your Business

The author

Thanks for reading this short post. For more tips on thriving with small business technology, check out the other blog posts at DWPia Blogs. I am also available at dwpia on LinkedIn, at dwpia on Facebook, and @dwpia on Twitter.

Cybersecurity Expert, Small Business Technology Consultant, Managed Services Provider, Managed IT SupportI am Denis Wilson, President and Principal Consultant for DWP Information Architects. We specialize in managed IT support for smaller healthcare practices, financial services firms, and nonprofits in Ventura County and San Fernando Valley. And have created cost-effective IT solutions, for over 20 years, specializing in cybersecurity and regulatory compliance. I am also a published author and speaker, working extensively with a variety of organizations. As well as providing small business technology education programs through business and professional associations.

Contact me if you would like me to speak at your association.