SCAM ALERT: Be Aware Twin Falls Of Amazon ‘Mistaken Charge’ Scam

Someone close to me recently reached out about getting the word out about a scam by an unknown source pretending to be an Amazon employee inquiring about an "accidental charge." The individual was nearly scammed for well over $100,000.

A few days ago, I read a frantic message from an acquaintance involving an email interaction that supposedly was sent from a corporate staffer with the e-commerce, technology giant Amazon. Some of you in southern Idaho might recall getting a few bogus emails from Amazon during the holiday season involving missed deliveries. I got several myself and deleted them instantly because I knew they were bogus.

Get our free mobile app

There are several scams currently targeting consumers of Amazon products. The one I'm writing about involves an email that has a subject line stating, "Mistaken (or "Accidental") charge." The mistake my acquaintance made was allowing this individual access to personal banking information.

The transaction requested from this bogus Amazon support team member was an effort to reverse funds that were accidentally taken from the bank account of the targeted person. Immediate actions had to be taken to close the account, and at one point, the victim believed the scammer(s) gained access to close to $110,000. It turns out, this disaster was narrowly avoided.

If you receive any email from someone claiming to work for Amazon that is attempting to reverse an accidental charge, delete it immediately and don't carry on any further communication with the scammers. Amazon doesn't contact consumers by email requesting access to banking information to correct these types of matters.