Amazon Prime Day Sale 2024 has been announced, and customers will be able get their desired products at discounted prices from the e-commerce site. A survey from Amazon said that Prime members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide and saved over $2.5 billion on millions of deals, making it the biggest Prime Day event ever in 2023. However, cybercriminals, who are aware of the popularity of Amazon Prime Day Sale, have devised new techniques to try and trick customers.
A Check Point study has found that over 1,230 new domains associated with Amazon have emerged in June 2024 alone, and 85% of them have been flagged as malicious or suspected to be malicious. Most of these websites are indulging in phishing attacks, which involve messages sent through email, social media, or other electronic communication means. These messages typically contain malicious attachments or links to fake websites that appear to be owned by trusted entities like Amazon. Cybercriminals then proceed to collect private information such as usernames, passwords, or payment details.
Some of the Fake Domains Being Used for Amazon Prime Day Sale 2024
Researchers have released the following list of websites that are pretending to be Amazon, but are indulging in phishing scams instead:
- amazon-onboarding[.]com is a newly registered fraudulent site designed as a phishing page pretending to be Amazon, specifically targeting carrier-related credentials.
- amazonmxc[.]shop is a counterfeit Amazon Mexico website, designed as a replica of amazon.com.mx. It features a profile login button in the top right corner that, when clicked, collects users’ login credentials.
- amazonindo[.]com is a fraudulent Amazon website. It features a profile login/registration button in the top right corner that, upon clicking, collects users’ login credentials.
Phishing Attempts Made in Name of Amazon Prime Day Sale 2024
The sites are being used to mislead victims by informing them that their Amazon account has been suspended due to mismatched billing information with their card issuer. The website then instructs them to update their payment details through a phishing link. The victims are often threatened with a certain sense of urgency and discontinuation for their account. Sites are also pretending to be genuine Amazon sites and coaxing customers to enter login details.
How to Stay Safe
Consumers must always ensure that they use the genuine Amazon website to make their Amazon Prime Day Sale purchases while also keeping the following points in mind:
- The sites usually tend to have some kind of misspelt words or bad grammar.
- Amazon.com passwords should be strong and uncrackable before Amazon Prime Day sale to protect accounts from being hacked.
Website URL must with https:// and have a padlock icon, indicating a secure connection. - Personal information like birthday and Aadhaar numbers must not be shared online.
- Phishing attacks often use urgent language to trick users into clicking links or downloading attachments.
- Deals that are too good to be true must nor be trusted.
