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Amazon scam emails, texts and calls: check Your Orders

From Scams, in the HARD wiki · Updated

A message or call about an Amazon order you didn’t place, a Prime fee or a locked account, that wants you to click, call back, install software or pay, is a scam.

Amazon says it won’t ask you to install software or give remote access to reach customer service, won’t ask for payment by phone or email, and never asks you to buy gift cards. Only real orders appear in Your Orders, and real Amazon emails also appear in the Message Center in your account.

What it looks like

An example written by HARD, not a real message. Real ones change wording often.

Text from +1 (302) 555-0124

Amazon: A purchase of an iPhone 17 Pro for $1,299.00 was placed on your account. If this wasn’t you, call Amazon Fraud Prevention now at +1 (302) 555-0125.

Check the one you got

Paste what you were sent. HARD checks it in this browser with the same rules as the Is this legit? check in its apps. Nothing you paste leaves this page.

How to tell it’s fake

“Amazon will not ask you to download or install any software”

Amazon
An order or charge you don’t recognise, and urgency.
The FTC says calls and texts about a “suspicious purchase” on Amazon are a scam.
A number to call, or a link to “verify”.
Amazon says not to call numbers sent by text or email, or found in search results.
Software, remote access or gift cards.
Amazon says it won’t ask you to install software, give remote access or buy gift cards.
A Prime problem or a recall refund.
Amazon lists fake Prime fees, account suspensions and fake recall refunds among the scams it sees, and says it doesn’t text about recalls.
The call moves to “the government”.
The FTC describes calls that start with a charge and move to a fake fraud or Social Security problem and pressure to move savings.

If you clicked, called or paid

Hang up, and disconnect if they got in.
If you installed software for them, disconnect from the internet and uninstall it.
Change your Amazon password.
In the app or at amazon.com, typed in, and turn on two-step verification.
Call your bank if you paid or typed in card details.
Use the number on the back of your card, not one from the message. Ask them to block the card, dispute the charge and watch for more. The sooner you call, the better the chance of stopping it.
Use Amazon’s Report a scam page.
From Amazon’s Help pages, signed in. Amazon’s tool asks what you shared, including remote access, and says what to do next.
Report it.
Send the email to [email protected] as an attachment, and report calls and texts at ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the US. Outside the US: Report Fraud in the UK (reportfraud.police.uk, which replaced Action Fraud), Scamwatch in Australia, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in Canada. Forward scam texts to 7726 in the US, UK and Canada.

If it was your parents, read Look after your parents, and if a card number or password has gone, Breaches explains what each kind of leaked data lets criminals do.

The official way to check

Open Your Orders in the app or on amazon.com.
Amazon says only real purchases appear there. No order, no problem.
Check the Message Center.
Real emails from Amazon are copied to Message Center in your account.
Check Prime in Your Account.
Your Account, then Prime Membership, shows your real plan and fee.

Someone on the phone asking for money right now? Guides has the two-step answer. More scams by name are on Is this a scam?, and new ones reach the Situation Room.

Questions

Does Amazon call you about a suspicious purchase?

The FTC says a call or text about a suspicious Amazon purchase is a scam. Hang up and check Your Orders in the app or on amazon.com yourself.

How do I report an Amazon scam email?

Send it to [email protected] as an attachment, or use Report a scam in Amazon’s Help pages while signed in.

Will Amazon ask me to pay by gift card?

No. Amazon says it will never ask you to purchase a gift card for it.

Sources

Sources checked on 7 Nov 2026.

  1. About Amazon: Tips to stay safe and avoid scams when shopping at Amazon, updated 8 June 2026: no software installs, remote access, payment by phone or email, or gift cards; don’t call numbers from texts, emails or search results.
  2. Amazon Help: Report a scam, read 7 November 2026: the Report a scam tool, [email protected] as an attachment, the FTC for calls and texts.
  3. Amazon Help: Scam trends, read 7 November 2026: fake orders, Prime fees, account suspension, recalls; Message Center.
  4. FTC: Did you get a call or text about a suspicious purchase on Amazon? It’s a scam, 7 March 2024: spoofed caller ID; log in through the website or app; never move money to protect it.