amazon or phishing?

Lagnal

I don't know what to do. There have been always problems with amazon but this time they crossed the limits or something illegal is going on - I don't know what to do. I ordered 2 Samsungs S9 from amazon.co.uk yesterday. All of a sudden today I received an email from them:
"Hello,
There was a problem confirming your payment information. To prevent potential misuse of your payment card, we have placed your orders on hold and locked your account. You will not be able to place orders until we verify your information.
To resolve this issue, we need to verify a recent statement for your visa ending in XX. To upload your statement to our secure document portal, log in to your account and follow the instructions.
The following information must be clearly displayed on the statement:
-- Your name and billing address.
-- The last 4 digits of the card number. For your protection, make sure that only the last 4 digits are displayed.
We will review your statement and respond within 24 hours. To protect your information, we restrict access to your statement to a team of account specialists. Our Customer Service team can confirm that we sent this email, but they cannot view your statement or share more information about this issue.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We ask that you not open new accounts because any new order that you place may be delayed.
Sincerely,
Account Specialist
"
Is it phishing? Does anybody know? They did pre-authorisation (1 euro) yesterday so they (the real amazon) know that everything is fine with the card.
There is a storm in Ireland, I cannot contact my bank. The account on amazon is locked so there is no way to contact them as well. Should I report my credit card detail is stolen?
Has this happened to anybody?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The Amazon site was acting up yesterday. Go to your account in Amazon - do not use any links from the email - and see how things stand. Contact Amazon directly if in doubt.

Lagnal

To contact amazon I need to log on but I cannot log on because my account is suspended. I tried to find related info on their website and on the net in general - nothing pops up except for some threads on phishing from 2013. Am I the first person to whom they did something like that and why would they not provide any help on amazon.co.uk?
It is strange...

lau1247

Lagnal wrote: »

To contact amazon I need to log on but I cannot log on because my account is suspended. I tried to find related info on their website and on the net in general - nothing pops up except for some threads on phishing from 2013. Am I the first person to whom they did something like that and why would they not provide any help on amazon.co.uk?
It is strange...

After a bit of digging on their Amazon UK site, finally found the contact detail. Hope this helps.

General Help Number
Note: We recommend using the "Call Me Now" feature instead for speedy assistance. We'll be ready to help you straight away based on the information you've already provided.

If you prefer to call the general help line instead, please note that you will need to answer a series of questions to verify your identity.

Freephone (within the UK): 0800 279 7234
International: +44 207 084 7911 - charges may apply

For Kindle questions:
Freephone (within the UK): 0800 279 7245
International: +44 203 356 6212 - charges may apply

Clickbait

Sounds dodgy, I'd ignore it. No phone is worth giving out your bank details. Give it a week and see if Amazon ships out your package.

dudara

Ordering two fridges at once is probably a red flag for them. Use the contact details above and hopefully it will all be OK. Amazon are generally excellent at resolving issues.

CollyFlower

Are you using a different device than normal to login? Something similar happened to a friend of mine, (not sure if it was Amazon) they rang the company and was told that it was for "security reasons" because they logged in from a different device.

Wheety

dudara wrote: »

Ordering two fridges at once is probably a red flag for them. Use the contact details above and hopefully it will all be OK. Amazon are generally excellent at resolving issues.

Aren't they phones?


OP, I wouldn't click on any links in the email.

What is the address the email comes from?

dudara

Wheety wrote: »

Aren't they phones?

You’re right!! For some reason, I thought “fridges”. Two phones is probably an even greater red flag. Purchase of consumer electronics that are resaleable is common in credit card fraud

meep

You say you cannot log in to your Amazon account as it's blocked.

This would appear to be consistent with the message you received and it's difficult to see how the originator of a fishing scam would mange to get your account blocked.

Definately don't share any bank details though before chatting to an Amazon rep. on a call you initiate.

CeilingFly

Looks like you just set up a new account with Amazon (you say they took a €1 verification charge) and then your first purchases is 2 x Samsung S9 phones.

Red flags left right and centre.

Now look at it another way - if someone got your card details, opened a new account with amazon and ordered 2 expensive phones immediately after each other and shipped them without any double checking - you'd be rightfully mad.

Lagnal

Thank you for all your replies.
So far I have forwarded the email to cis at amazon.com asking them if they were aware of that kind of correspondence being sent on amazon's behalf.

I opened my account with amazon 10 years ago and have used it since then. Last time I bought something from them in November last year.

Is it suspicious that somebody's buying two new S9s during the pre-order period? I'd say a couple of thousand people are going to become suspects soon...

I agree, the fact that I cannot log on and that there are no links in the email itself make it all look valid. However, there is no reason for what they are doing and there is no information on this practice available anywhere so I feel like my cautiousness is justified. It is us who are exposed to fraud, not them.
I think it is going to be really last time that I used amazon. Every single purchase from them has been problematic... The problem is that there is no alternative in Ireland - in this particular case the only sim free S9 available here is for 1050 euro.

CeilingFly

so why the verification fee?

If not new account, a new card.

New card, €2k immediate purchase = suspicious. Remember this is most likely an automated response.

That they are pro-active with card fraud should be seen as welcome.

If your bank does a security check with you, (as they do more frequently these days) will you then stop using that bank too?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Lagnal wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies.
So far I have forwarded the email to cis at amazon.com asking them if they were aware of that kind of correspondence being sent on amazon's behalf.

I opened my account with amazon 10 years ago and have used it since then. Last time I bought something from them in November last year.

Is it suspicious that somebody's buying two new S9s during the pre-order period? I'd say a couple of thousand people are going to become suspects soon...

I agree, the fact that I cannot log on and that there are no links in the email itself make it all look valid. However, there is no reason for what they are doing and there is no information on this practice available anywhere so I feel like my cautiousness is justified. It is us who are exposed to fraud, not them.
I think it is going to be really last time that I used amazon. Every single purchase from them has been problematic... The problem is that there is no alternative in Ireland - in this particular case the only sim free S9 available here is for 1050 euro.

What strikes me as most strange is that you say 'every single purchase has been problematic' in your 10 years using them. I have been a regular customer for over 20 years without a single issue and always received brilliant customer service. Why are you always encountering problems?

Lagnal

No, it is not a new card.
Whether I would stop using a bank depends on the situation. I resigned from getting KBC's credit card because the detail they wanted from me was irrelevant and I knew they were not supposed to be asking irrelevant questions. If I had always problem with payments, I would change the bank if there was an alternative one available. Why would you use a bank that is causing problems and waste your time?

Now, about amazon. I understand that they may need to verify something from time to time. However, in this case 1700 euro is just how much the 2 phones cost. Also, there is no information anywhere on that procedure. I will have to call them because there is no other way to validate the email.

Problems with amazon? Many items I got from them were broken as they arrived. So getting them at home was easy but then I had to go to the post office or wait for a courier to collect the parcel to return the items. Delivery time is always incorrect and they have always been late. If time matters, it is much more simply to go to the city centre for a couple of hours and get things from the real shops there if they are available. "Brilliant customer service", do you mean that because they simply quickly return money when issues arise? Well, I agree that they do that. It's pathetic approach but satisfactory - they pay for their errors and flaws. However, it does not make them a trustful company. So the fact that I am suspicious about simple html emails from them and blocking my account is relevant, I think.

They still haven't replied to my email.

dudara

You could be waiting a while for them to email you back. Be proactive and use one of the telephone numbers given to you earlier to call them and sort it out.

Lagnal

Just for info: I didn't do anything else. They sent an email today that the hold has been removed from my account.
Thank you all for your support :-)