{"id":13102,"date":"2019-09-04T14:20:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T13:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.repricerexpress.com\/?p=13102"},"modified":"2020-09-24T12:23:43","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:23:43","slug":"amazon-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repricerexpress.com\/amazon-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Scams: How Can Sellers Stay Protected?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Money makes people do some stupid \u2014 and illegal \u2014 things, including coming up with all sorts of scams on Amazon. But RepricerExpress<\/a> is here to show you how to protect yourself, including some of the most common scams out there and what to watch for.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How common are Amazon scams? Depending on who you talk to and what time of year it is, there could be anywhere from dozens to hundreds of counterfeit Amazon accounts being made each day<\/a>. And although Amazon takes good steps to improve legitimacy among buyers and sellers, scammers are getting more and more sophisticated. Here\u2019s are the most common scams and how sellers can protect themselves.<\/p>\n

Buyers Claim a \u201cFailed Delivery\u201d<\/h2>\n

This is a tough scam to deal with because it\u2019s rooted in actual, real occurrences. Redditor \/u\/PresidentFartFeather<\/a> posted a video of an Amazon delivery driver leaving \u2014 then stealing \u2014 the packages, while \/u\/octoberthug<\/a> filmed a UPS driver opening a package and stealing its contents and \/u\/ZombieGoast5757<\/a> suspected someone of stealing their FedEx delivery.<\/p>\n

Stolen \u2014 or \u201cfailed deliveries\u201d \u2014 are so rampant, a former NASA engineer by the name of Mark Rober took matters into his own hands<\/a> by pranking package thieves. He, like so many other buyers, had had enough of not receiving his packages.<\/p>\n

Given these stories, it\u2019s easy to sympathise with the buyer when they claim a failed delivery on Amazon. But how do you protect yourself from the scams? Use track-and-trace postage that requires the recipient\u2019s signature upon receipt, which helps support your case during a dispute.<\/p>\n

Buyers Claim a \u201cReplace and Refund\u201d<\/h2>\n

This scam is also rooted in legitimacy, as Amazon has an option for buyers to get their old or damaged item replaced for one promised in the condition described in the listing. However, what scammers will do (and this seems to be the most common in the gaming industry) is they\u2019ll have an old, broken or damaged product already on hand, then show \u201cevidence\u201d of that with photos when they send in the damaged one.<\/p>\n

Because products get damaged and broken when in transit regularly and it\u2019s not the cheapest thing in the world to carry (damaged) duplicates on hand, how do you protect yourself from this scam? A really good way is to put a tamper-proof sticker on the product that tears when someone tries to detach it. Just make sure to mention that the product contains a warranty sticker in the listing \u2014 but don\u2019t include a picture of it so that scammers get their own stickers.<\/p>\n

Buyers Try and \u201cPhish\u201d You<\/h2>\n

Phishing is when someone tries to get personal information from another person with the aim of using it in a malicious or destructive way, usually by presenting themselves as a person or authority (like an Amazon employee). The podcast Reply All devoted an episode to phishing<\/a> to show just how susceptible really smart people were to this scam, and the kinds of things you can do to protect yourself.<\/p>\n

This type of scam gets more sophisticated and harder to see through all the time, but there are several steps you can take to avoid getting roped in:<\/p>\n