Windows 10 Scam Alert, this just happened!!!

MikeHawthorne

Essential Member
Microsoft Community Contributor
Hi Guys

I was just going through my emails and I saw one marked

"Prime Alert".
The message said...

Unfortunately, we were unable to process your Amazon Prime membership payment. But don't worry, it's easy to solve & We are here to help! Your payment failed for the following reason:

Declined for unknown reasons The card was declined for an unknown reason.
To continue using Prime Benefits, you need to update your payment information.

Make sure you update this by 7/28/2020 2:36:53 AM Otherwise your account will be automatically lock up.

Note the incorrect use of the word "lock" not locked.
I hit the link button without giving it much thought other than I don't think my card has expired.

Boom, my screen turns red and my Malwarebytes antivirus says This is a scam. I closed the window and looked at the email, it did not say Amazon anywhere except in the content of the message. It did not say it was from Amazon and it said Prime Alert, not Amazon Prime Alert.

I backed out and removed the email after coping the contents of the message minus the links.

Just a warning if you are a big Amazon user like I am.

Mike
 
At least you caught it. I never ever open those kinds of emails even if they are legit. I do all that manually, either over the phone or in person for updating my credentials.
 
Yeah they're pretty common. I've seen an uptick in Amazon, Paypal and Apple scams.

Some common signs to that indicate a scam or phishing email
  • You don't have the service or product the email mentions
  • It's addressed to "Customer", or "User" and not your real name or username
  • Bad grammar or spelling
  • The email address is misspelled or completely different (most emails will literally be just the @companyname.com
  • Hovering over any links will also be misspelled or random and again should be https://www.companyname.com or https://companyname.com
  • Contain the threat of closing your account or large charges etc
  • Social engineering attacks very commonly prey on fear and or peoples willingness to help someone out
Also never open attachments you are not expecting many of them can automatically download or contain malware.
 
Hi

I never would have touched it if I had noticed that it didn't say it was from Amazon, I just read Prime Alert and since I buy stuff from Amazon almost everyday I clicked on it before I realized it was a spoof.

I get these constantly that say they are from my bank, I used to tell my bank every time but now I just delete them.

Between this and people trying to sell me supplemental health insurance and insurance to get my still on warranty car repaired it gets to be a drag.
When you get over 80 years old they all think you will fall for anything.

Mike
 
Yes, I had one a few weeks ago but over the phone, the message said that £9.99 had been taken from my bank to pay for Prime. I checked with the bank but nothing had been taken, Amazon confirmed that it was some sort of scam.

Well done Mike and have you noticed the first thing they say is how old are you. CONGRATULATIONS YOU DO QUALIFY, but we're just old, not Ga Ga. ps I'm in my 80s too.
 
Thanks for the comment, I'm a dog person too, I had 18 Scottish Deerhounds over 40 some years (as many as 5 at times), plus and Irish Wolfhound and a couple of Whippets.

My last Deerhound Oliver died over a year ago and I decided not to replace him, at 82 I'm just too old to start over with a puppy again.
But I really miss having a dog around.

Now I have one cat, and about 20 Koi.
 
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