Amazon confirms employee shared user details with third-party sellers

Amazon has already fired the employee in question and removed the seller who purchased customers’ email addresses

Amazon is also asking customers to flag off instances where they receive unsolicited emails from sellers (AFP)

After reports emerged about Amazon employee allegedly sharing customer data with third-party sellers, the e-commerce giant has started notifying affected users.

Amazon has already fired the employee in question and removed the seller who purchased customers' email addresses, Engadget reported. It was previously reported that sellers have paid as much as USD 2,000 to get access to the data.

Amazon is also asking customers to flag off instances where they receive unsolicited emails from sellers, who could offer them free or discounted goods if they changed their negative reviews and low ratings of the seller on the site.

Last month, Amazon said it was investigating allegations that some of its staff had sold personal data of customers to third-party sellers, particularly in China.

"We have zero tolerance for abuse of our systems and if we find bad actors who have engaged in this behaviour, we will take swift action against them, including terminating their selling accounts, deleting reviews, withholding funds, and taking legal action," Amazon had said in a statement.

(with inputs from agencies)