Should Amazon take some responsibility for this scam?
Hi folks, this story has been in the works for some time now, and finally I can share it with all of you and hopefully save you falling for the same thing. A loyal iMod reader, Philip, has put this together:
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“My cousin, currently doing his gap-year in the UK was recently a victim of an internet scam on the Amazon website. In September he saw an ad for a MacBook Pro on Amazon.co.uk, for a reasonable price of £833.00 + £13.00 for delivery. He clicked and followed normal procedure, but when it got to the delivery address bit they said that it couldn’t be delivered to his area in the UK and that he must contact the seller. He requested their details and got in touch with them, who then said it was fine.
Shortly after that he received an order confirmation email from the same address as the confirmation for all of his previous Amazon orders, which had gone without a hitch. He then paid the full amount, confirming the payment on the official link on the email from Amazon. The money can only be received by the person who has the registration number, and he only sent it to the link on the Amazon email.
Here’s where it all goes wrong:
After that, several more payments were requested (including “customs clearance”) and he paid the same way. He then stopped hearing from the seller, and so contacted Amazon. They at first said there was a postal strike, but then when it became apparent that nothing was ever going to be delivered, they said that they could not be held responsible for people that “advertise” on their site. Their excuse is that all orders placed HAVE to be paid for via Amazon Payments – which as far as he could see was the case! The order wasn’t made to a spoof email address or via a spoof website, and didn’t alert suspicion.
I think that because the scam took place on their website, with official Amazon branded emails etc, they should take some kind of responsibility.”
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Internet scams take place every single day, without hundreds of emails arriving from our banks requesting us to update our accounts to emails saying we’ve won amazing prizes and in most cases email clients are picking up these scams and sending them to a spam folder or the average person has started to be a bit more educated about these scams.
However, in a case like this Amazon situation, one would imagine that advertising on such a reputable brand’s website would first be screened by Amazon. There’s most definitely a fault on Amazon’s behalf in this situation if you ask me. iMod is tiny compared to Amazon, but I certainly screen ever single advertiser that I work with, excluding the Google Ads, which are harder, but even with them, I run blacklist checks to reduce the chances – after all, my readers mean everything to me.
I think Amazon should be stepping up to the plate a little more here.
What do you think?
Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4117 posts.
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I would suggest that your cousin phones the banks credit card department to dispute the charges as he has been charged as no product has arrived from Amazon and let the credit card department open up a fraud case against Amazon. Amazon would get a fax from the Bank disputing the transaction and giving Amazon a week to supply proof that they sent the laptop to your cousin. If not the bank will reverse the charges.
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Of course Amazon should take the blame. Yes, your cousin can have the transaction reversed via his bank (that issued the credit card).
Amazon, I fear, has actually become too big to care. Once they left the realms of a book store, they seemed to be trying to sell everything under the sun, and get anyone else to sell everything under their umbrella.
I’ve noticed that Kalahari.net has now started expanding along the same lines as well.
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Ye, I think Amazon have indeed gotten too big – This is a bad situation for them, they should step up to the plate and leave a comment!
Nov 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I have stopped using Amazon because I have heard one bad story too many. If it is so easy to be caught, I am sure i would be the first to be a victim!
I think it is definitely up to Amazon to screen the advertisers and, as in this case, instead of just giving away the information for the buyer to sort out delivery, add a stern warning about entering into any payment agreements with them.
Nov 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
@Caroline – I agree with you, especially about the screening advertisers parts, there is no excuse here and therefore they should assist this poor guy, that’s a lot of money he spent!
Nov 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
To respond to the second commnt, when the information about the transaction came – ostensibly from Amazon (it looked like the normal page than Amazon send and came from the website) it said that the buyer should send a moneygram and gave the address and other details, all looking like the Amazon webpage and coming from the Amazon website – so a credit card was not used. In retrospect this was where the transaction started going wrong, but HOW DID AMAZON allow this to be sent on their webpage? And there was no warning about not using “moneygrams” – it all looked perfectly above board especially to a youngster who is just entering the world of earning and spending!
Nov 25th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I cannot understand how Amazon cannot take responsibility for the scam.
The query was sent to them [Amazon} and the response appeared to have come from them listing the bogus sellers.Yet Amazon claims absolutely no responsibility.I would think an explanation and an apology would be in order not to mention a refund
Nov 25th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I tend to agree Margaret, I can’t quite understand why they won’t step up to the plate on this one ..
Nov 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I have also heard a lot of stories of items not being delivered via amazon, but because they have generally been books, the purchaser has shrugged their shoulders and put it down to experience!
I think amazon needs to authenticate any advertising on their site and take responsibility for any fraudulent transactions which take place from that platform.
The advertisement was placed on the amazon website and therefore should have been vetted!
Come on amazon – show some goodwill!!
Nov 25th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Amazon claim that ‘We’re Building Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company’, yet they seem happy to mislead customers, and then take no responsibility. I hope that they will show that they mean what they say in the slogan!
Nov 26th, 2009 at 8:35 am
On reflection, I would like amazon to let us know how this should not be seen as an “inside job” – who else, but an amazon employee, would be able to intercept communication with amazon and divert further interactions?
Nov 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Customer Centric? What a laugh! They really ought to publicly acknowledge the risks involved, some form of highly visible disclaimer. And as Chris said – screen those advertisers! On one of the largest online stores in the world you’d really expect a more thorough approach!
Nov 26th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Ye @Phil, why they don’t screen their advertisers boggles my mind!
Nov 29th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
It is clear that Amazon does not give a damn about consumers being ripped off by means of facilities which Amazon has hosted. I believe they do have responsibility in this case.