...and You Thought the Nigerian Prince Scam was Lame. Look at this Amazon Scam

[Qs Laptop]

I'm a seller on Amazon. Everything I sell on Amazon is fulfilled by Amazon, meaning I send product to their distribution centers and Amazon employees pack and ship the individual orders. I don't pack and ship individual orders. Without getting specific about the nature and purpose of my product I can tell you it is made of plastic that is injection molded.

Recently I got this message in the Inbox of my Seller Account. It references an order that Amazon fulfilled and shipped to Mexico. I don't know how this person got a hold of my Amazon seller's account email address.

Hello, I bought the product as a gift for my friend who lives in Abroad. I think a previously used and repackaged item may have been sent. Poor quality and allergy-causing product. The quality is very bad and there is an item such as dusty. It smells awful and there are some fingerprints on the product, he was trying to clean it, it was not hygienic.

When my friend opened the package, there were bugs in it. My friend also had an allergic reaction on both arms. That's why he has rashes on his arm. My friend paid 875 usd to the hospital for the treatment costs. I wanted to contact you without complaining.

My friend wants to return this product that was given as a gift. The nearest UPS point is 20 miles from my friend's house. My friend's baby cannot leave the house because he is small. I talked to Amazon for about 15 minutes. Amazon said that if I request it, they can initiate a quality research on the product for the Business Prime member and request information and documents from you. After inspection they said that a refund is possible. I absolutely did not accept this. They advised me to contact you and said you can help with a refund. If I can not get help I can apply to A to Z.

I wanted to contact you without complaining and writing negative feedback, We wanted to inform you and compromise before filing a case. If you want the item back, please contact Ups and have it picked up at my friend's house. I am 58 years old and I had an argument with my friend because of this situation. I was embarrassed for both. I am a Business Prime customer. I think you will help me. Kind regards.

 

[aja8888]

Did you pass this over to Amazon security for their review?

 

[Qs Laptop]

Did you pass this over to Amazon security for their review?

I passed it along to Amazon Seller Help. Got a very wordy AI generated response.

I also checked the Amazon Seller forums and found out this is a known scam among sellers.

The guy emailed me again, requesting a refund. I copied and pasted the response from Amazon saying since it was a fulfilled by Amazon order, the buyer should request the refund from Amazon and gave directions on how to do this.

Guy emailed me again asking for a refund. I told him to quit spamming me with requests as I would not be refunding his order and once again to apply for refund with Amazon.

As I understand it, the scammer makes money when the Amazon seller, out of fear, initiates a refund to the buyer. Once the buyer gets the refund from the seller he then requests Amazon for a refund. In essence, the buyer double dips on the refund.

 

[Qs Laptop]

This is my favorite line from the scammer's email:

My friend's baby cannot leave the house because he is small.

Talk about a non-sequitur! What does the baby have to do with anything? I'm surprised he didn't mention his dog licked the product and died.


I talked to Amazon for about 15 minutes.

Uh-huh. I'd like to see someone in Mexico get Amazon on the phone. I have trouble getting them on the phone and I'm a seller.

 

[COcheesehead]

The wording for any of these scams is always so apparently poor. I really wonder who falls for any of this stuff.

 

[Aerides]

This is why we pay amazon the big bucks to handle FBA for us! You know to just report the buyer, and mark any further messages as No Response Needed. Don't engage further.

 

[rk911]

Did you pass this over to Amazon security for their review?

+1

 

[MichaelL]

I got a phone call the other day where the recording said that it was Amazon calling and someone was trying to buy an iPhone 11 using my accounts. Shortly a person came on and asked me for some personal information. I hung up and did a search and found that this is a common scam.

 

[scrabbler1]

I got a phone call the other day where the recording said that it was Amazon calling and someone was trying to buy an iPhone 11 using my accounts. Shortly a person came on and asked me for some personal information. I hung up and did a search and found that this is a common scam.

I have been getting calls like yours for many months. If they arrive on my cell phone, I hang up because I pay per minute of cell phone usage. But if they call on my land line, and I am not busy with anything, I engage with these scammers for a few minutes, shaming them and chewing them out for their futile scam attempt. Sometimes, they hang up on me!

 

[SecondCor521]

The wording for any of these scams is always so apparently poor. I really wonder who falls for any of this stuff.

My son has explained to me that the wording is intentionally poor.

In this way, it filters out, uh, competent people who would not fall for the scam. Susceptible people would tend either not to notice or would overlook such errors.

Targeted marketing which saves the scammers time, I guess.

I don't like the explanation but I grudgingly agree it's probably accurate.

 

[MichaelL]

My son has explained to me that the wording is intentionally poor.

In this way, it filters out, uh, competent people who would not fall for the scam. Susceptible people would tend either not to notice or would overlook such errors.

Targeted marketing which saves the scammers time, I guess.

I don't like the explanation but I grudgingly agree it's probably accurate.

I've heard that theory but it doesn't make sense. Competent people would not fall for the scam even if it was properly written. These scams are fake on their face. They are relying on naive people who are frightened.

The scammers are not native English speaking people. They are in Internet boiler rooms in poor countries following a playbook that they bought from the room operator and they are paying rent to use the computers. That is why you get many people with the same scam with the same wording.

 

[COcheesehead]

My son has explained to me that the wording is intentionally poor.

In this way, it filters out, uh, competent people who would not fall for the scam. Susceptible people would tend either not to notice or would overlook such errors.

Targeted marketing which saves the scammers time, I guess.

I don't like the explanation but I grudgingly agree it's probably accurate.

So if it were worded correctly or more sophisticated wouldn’t they have better luck? Asking for a friend.

 

[SecondCor521]

So if it were worded correctly or more sophisticated wouldn’t they have better luck? Asking for a friend.

I don't think so.

They might get more inquiries in total, but a higher percentage of those inquiries would fail to be duped. It is about sales yield, not prospects.

 

[aja8888]

I don't think so.

They might get more inquiries in total, but a higher percentage of those inquiries would fail to be duped. It is about sales yield, not prospects.

Yeah, and there is no Customer Service to call after you signed up and got shafted.

 

[COcheesehead]

I don't think so.

They might get more inquiries in total, but a higher percentage of those inquiries would fail to be duped. It is about sales yield, not prospects.

Why do you and your son know so much about scams? Hmmmm.

 

[SecondCor521]

Why do you and your son know so much about scams? Hmmmm.

Uh, that remind me I have good offer bridge for you will PM.

 

[Calico]

A few weeks ago I received an email purporting to be from Amazon.

The sender claimed "there was a problem with my Amazon account" and that my account "was being temporarily closed" and "my current orders would not ship."

They stated that they would be "happy to help me with this urgent matter" if I would kindly click on the (garbage) link provided. I was instructed to have all my personal information and account details ready to pass along to them.

THIS is why there is a "delete" key on my keyboard.

 

[MichaelL]

A few weeks ago I received an email purporting to be from Amazon.

The sender claimed "there was a problem with my Amazon account" and that my account "was being temporarily closed" and "my current orders would not ship."

They stated that they would be "happy to help me with this urgent matter" if I would kindly click on the (garbage) link provided. I was instructed to have all my personal information and account details ready to pass along to them.

THIS is why there is a "delete" key on my keyboard.

I've got that same email several times, and not just for Amazon, but for Venmo too.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I get those from Best Buy and MacAfee all the time. Mostly saying my auto pay has been approved for $349 and to click on the link if there is a problem.

BTW, I have had to call Amazon a few times and have not had much trouble doing so. I’m surprised as a seller you can’t talk to them.

 

[Rianne]

Just curious, as a seller, how does Amazon contact you if there is a legitimate problem? I always wondered about sellers and their personal communication with buyers. For instance, I bought a few craft-type items and the seller sent a personalized note appreciating my business and hoping I enjoyed the product.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Just curious, as a seller, how does Amazon contact you if there is a legitimate problem? I always wondered about sellers and their personal communication with buyers. For instance, I bought a few craft-type items and the seller sent a personalized note appreciating my business and hoping I enjoyed the product.

Amazon will contact you via their built-in message app in the Seller Account.

If you buy something that is shipped by Amazon that means the seller is using the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) service. Typically Amazon does not permit sellers to have direct contact with buyers with an FBA order. This does not bother me, but plenty of sellers would like to be able to contact their FBA buyers directly.

If you buy something that is shipped by seller, the seller may contact you.