Got Amazon “account locked” email? DELETE it now from your Gmail, Outlook

Cyberattackers have often come up with novel ways to dupe innocent people on the internet and their latest attempt aims to imitate Amazon. A common scam mail widely distributed in the UK as of now, the Amazon “account locked” email aims to pose as Amazon's customer care service and steal your credentials. The email looks believable, at least you look at it normally.

The scamsters send an email that looks like one of those Amazon receipt emails. The scam, which was discovered by Express.co.uk first, tries to scare the victim by threatening to lock their Amazon account and cancel all pending orders within three days.

Amazon “account locked” email coming

The Amazon “account locked” email explains the reason behind this move as a faulty billing information. The email also carries a link, asking users to update their information here in order to keep their account locked.

If in case the victim chooses to ignore, the email even says that one should not try to open another account as their pending orders will be further delayed. However, those clicking on the link will be taken to a page that resemble a lot like the Amazon page. Once the victim enters all the credentials, all the information is robbed.

“A phishing email appears to be from a reputable source, but in reality it is sent from an outside party attempting to access your personal information by getting you to open an attachment containing malware or click on a link that redirects to a potentially dangerous website,” says Amazon's security page.

“Some phishing emails may even contain a link to a website that looks like Amazon.com, but is not a legitimate site. The website may ask for your Amazon username and password or try to install unwanted software on your computer. If you receive a message like this, you should delete it without opening any attachments or clicking any links,” warns Amazon.

What to do if you get such email?

- Always double check emails that threaten to close your account or cancel your orders. Neither Amazon nor your bank will serve such notifications over an email.

- Always check the sender's email. Most of the time, the email ID will give away the fakeness of the mail.

- Even if you cannot determine all that and end up opening the link, note the the website's URL. You should never enter your card details, net banking password, and other bits along with your e-commerce password.