The July shopping frenzy is about to begin. Amazon Prime Day sales kick off Tuesday, July 16. Last year, Amazon said the first day of Prime Day was the single largest sales day in its history.
With other stores offering competing sales ahead of the retail industry’s critical back-to-school season, a lot of people will be getting in on the action. You need to be careful because it is a sure bet that scammers will be on the prowl trying to trick you.
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Beware of fake ads and links and fake websites.
In June alone, Check Point Software, a cyber security company, documented the emergence of more than 1,200 new domains associated with Amazon, with 85% of them suspected to be malicious. And those fake websites may be harder to spot this year.
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“This year, with AI being so available to any scammer, the phony websites are going to look incredibly convincing,” explains Steve Weisman from Scamicide.com. “You just can't take the chance of clicking on a link going to Amazon or going to Target or any of the companies you're dealing with. You have to input the URL that you know is right yourself into your computer.”
Don’t click on a shopping link that you get via text or email. Scammers will be trying to trick you into thinking that there was a problem with your order or your account. Always go directly to the website you made a purchase from and check your order there if you’re concerned there is an issue.
And watch out for those fake delivery text messages because they will be coming at you as well. Use your credit card when placing online orders. It offers much more protection than you get with a debit card.
And enable two-factor authentication on your accounts. If you mistakenly give your account information to a scammer, that two-factor authentication will keep them from accessing your account.
As for those discounts, before you purchase anything, do a Google search and check the discounts at other retailers and make sure you are getting the absolute best price.
