Amazon Closed My Account!

[radhak]

I recieved an lengthy email from Amazon yesterday that basically said (summarized):

"Thanks for contacting us with your concerns about your account. We found that your account was compromised, but not from within Amazon, rather most probably from somewhere else on your end. Somebody logged into your Amazon account and ordered something. We have nullified this, and have closed your account. Please open a new account. And btw, your credit card information was NOT compromised"

My first reaction was "Huh? When did I contact them?" Then, "what happens to my Order History?". So I emailed back with some questions.

Today I got back a response saying "we cannot give you any details, but if law-enforcement or financial institutions demand, we will give them the details." No mention of what do I do to get at least a statement of my Order History .

I did figure out where it must have started : early Jan I had received an email from Amazon to the effect that I should pay for a gift-card I had purchased. I checked and saw that I had not purchased any gift-card, so I called them; while on the call the cust-rep told me that there was a problem at their end and she'd sort it out and I need not worry. Yesterday's email was their first contact since then.

I am guessing I should not have a problem opening a new account, but this complete clamp-down on information sorta scares me. I wouldn't want to be stuck with them with something serious.

[RodKirby]

SCAM! Have you tried contacting Amazon "direct"?

[dbhost]

That could VERY easily be a hoax / phishing email! Try accessing your Amazon account DIRECTLY....

A VERY common tactic among the phishers / social engineers is to send an official looking email telling he user about compromises / closings on accounts, and you need to do this, that or the other (which gives them your information) to reopen your account. Do NOT fall for this...

[LarryG]

This is absolutely a scam unless and until proven otherwise -- which won't happen. The writing is better than with most phishing letters, but it still uses phraseology that immediately raises all manner of red flags. "Somewhere else on your end" ... "We have nullified this" ... that's not how a legitimate business would say it.

Plus, it makes no sense. "Somebody logged into your Amazon account and ordered something." Duh, really? Isn't that how online commerce works, like, all the time? How would amazon.com know it wasn't you, placing a legitimate order?

[Hoakie]

Please open a new account. And btw, your credit card information was NOT compromised[/I]"

In addition, I certainly hope Amazon would not use "btw" abbreviation in an official letter.

[Stytooner]

My Paypal has been closed more times than I have received payments. Lots of my bank accounts have been closed as well. Trouble is, I really need to get my head checked out. I cannot remember opening accounts at most of those banks.


I also get quite a few orders from people in other countries. Something like this.

Dear Sir,
I would like to buy X amount of Powermatic saws from you and will have my shipper arrange pickup. How many can we get at one time and how much for each one?

Unhunh.

[radhak]

It is not a scam - as soon as I got the email, I tried to login to amazon, and it would not accept it; it did allow me to change my password, but when I tried to login with the new password, it threw me out again.

I did examine the email closely and was satisfied that it was not a phish.

But I had not contacted Amazon till y'all said so - and I am just off the phone with a cust-rep there. She sees my account is in 'suspend' mode but no explanations thereof, except that she does not have the authority to revive it. She took down my details and questions and promised that somebody will contact me by tomorrow.

This is absolutely a scam unless and until proven otherwise -- which won't happen. The writing is better than with most phishing letters, but it still uses phraseology that immediately raises all manner of red flags. "Somewhere else on your end" ... "We have nullified this" ... that's not how a legitimate business would say it.

In addition, I certainly hope Amazon would not use "btw" abbreviation in an official letter.

I should clarify that I was trying to abbreviate (and rephrase) their email for my post; the emails are well worded and detailed - a bit too long for me, actually.

Plus, it makes no sense. "Somebody logged into your Amazon account and ordered something." Duh, really? Isn't that how online commerce works, like, all the time? How would amazon.com know it wasn't you, placing a legitimate order?

And that worries me - in that exchange in January, the lady looked at her screen or something and immediately said there was something wrong and it would be fixed without me doing anything. I had expected to see more push back from them ('Sir, how do we know you did not order this?'), particularly because it was for a downloaded gift-card, which means the user grabs it and runs; unlike a physical item that has to be delivered to a street address.

Got me to think that maybe they had more accounts similarly hacked or misused and they had flagged all these even before I called.

And perhaps now they are shutting my account down to inoculate themselves
from further harm?

I'll wait for them to contact me; lemme see if I can get my order history, at least. That's around 7 years worth of transactions!

[LarryG]

In addition, I certainly hope Amazon would not use "btw" abbreviation in an official letter.

Missed that one completely, probably because I've gotten so used to seeing it and using it myself that it didn't even register, but yeah ... that's exactly the sort of red flag I was talking about.

These scammers are clever. Well, actually, most of them are dumber than a bag of hammers, but some of them are clever. I once got a very realistic-looking email from "PayPal" that was persuasively written and might well have been legitimate. The usual deal: some sort of problem with my account, would I please click here, and so on and so forth. It even had the familiar and comforting boilerplate about how my PayPal user name was included so I would know the email was legit. And it almost fooled me until I realized that the salutation did not contain my PayPal user name. Instead, it contained my email address. Obviously the scammers were hoping I'd glance at it and think, "Yep, that's me, all right."

[herb fellows]

Sorry if this is nit picking, but if their original notice from them said 'closed your account', why would her screen be showing 'suspended'?

These are 2 different actions.

I will be really interested to see the outcome of this, please keep us posted.

I have had my Paypal acct compromised, and it took several days and more security procedures to re-establish the account.
I now have a 'creidt card' that you press and it spits out a 6 digit number I need to enter my account. A pita, but so far it seems to work.

[LarryG]

Just saw radhak's subsequent reply, posted while I was writing my second.

I'm still skeptical. Where did you get the phone number you used to contact amazon.com? From the email? I ask this because if you go to the amazon.com web site, it is almost impossible to find a phone number, anywhere.

EDITED TO ADD: You say "the emails are well worded and detailed - a bit too long for me, actually." Sort of like they're going to great lengths to reassure you they're legit, maybe?

[radhak]

I mostly agree with y'all : it does seem a bit out-of-the-blue for me. But I am very sure it is legit now that I spoke to them.

To talk to somebody in Amazon :

- click on the 'help' on the right top of their home page;
- now click on the yellow 'Contact Us' button on the right side of the screen;
- the Sign in page comes up, but happily for me (since my login does not work), there is a 'skip sign in' button below;
- this takes you to a 'Customer Service' screen where you input some parameters and you can select the 'phone' option;
- on this last screen, you enter your phone number and click the 'call me now' button. Careful : your phone will ring that very second, I kid you not!

Voila : you are talking to an Amazon customer!

I have used that before to return a broken Airfilter, and it works wonderfully.

I remember the email saying 'closed' while the lady read it as 'suspend'; sorta gave me some hope this can be retrieved; let's see.
I don't have access to personal emails here at work; shall copy-paste it here when I get back home.

[radhak]

This is the emails I first received :

Greetings from Amazon.com.

Please take the time to read this message - it contains important
information about your Amazon.com account.

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns regarding your account.
After careful review of your account, we believe it may have been
accessed and used by a third-party to make purchases without your
permission, but it appears they did not use your credit card to make
these purchases. It seems that someone obtained your personal account
and/or financial information elsewhere, and used it on Amazon.com to
access your account.

We have closed your account effective immediately because of this
possible unauthorized account activity.

You will need to open a new account when you place future
orders with us.
It is important to know that Amazon.com accounts can only be accessed
by those who know personal, specific information about you and your
account -- such as your email address, Amazon.com password, physical
address, credit card information, and other details. As mentioned
above, it appears someone obtained some of your personal account
and/or financial information elsewhere and used it on Amazon.com to
access your account.

While it is not clear how this happened in your case, we do know that
personal account and financial information are often obtained by scam
artists who send unsolicited email to unsuspecting users asking them
to "update" their account information. The email usually contains a
link to a website that is controlled by the thief asking the user to
submit personal information including email address, password, credit
card number, and other relevant information. Once the information is
obtained, the scam artist can then gain access to numerous online
accounts since many internet users frequently use the same user name,
email address, password, and financial information at multiple web
sites.

Please know that Amazon.com employees will *never* ask for your
password, nor will we ever send an email asking you to verify personal
information.

Although it appears someone did access your Amazon.com account, they
would not have been able to view your full credit card numbers as they
are never displayed on our site. However, it is possible your credit
card numbers may have been compromised at the time your other personal
information was obtained. Therefore, we suggest you carefully review
recent credit card statements to check for any unusual activity or
unauthorized charges.

In the future, you can protect your Amazon.com password and account by
following some of these safety tips:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Choose a good password: Use at least 8 characters and a combination
of letters and numbers. Do not use single dictionary words, your name
or other personal info that can be easily obtained, or a password that
contains part of your email address.

2. Password protection: Avoid using the same password at multiple
sites or for your email account. Do not share your password with
others.

3. Account protection: Be cautious of unsolicited emails that appear
to come from reputable online shops or services that ask you to submit
personal information such as your credit card number, email address,
and password. Often these emails will look as though they come from
the company you're familiar with, and the email will ask you to click
on a link and "sign in". You should never provide this kind of
personal information in an unsolicited email.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

We strongly suggest that you follow the safety tips
listed above for increased password and account protection.

Please accept our most sincere apologies for any resulting
inconveniences, and feel free to contact us if you have any further
questions or concerns by writing to account-alert@amazon.com.


Sincerely,

Walt S.
Account Specialist
Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com

And then, responding to my questions :

account-alert@amazon.com <account-alert@amazon.com>
to
cc "investigation-dept@amazon.com" <investigation-dept@amazon.com>
date Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 2:35 AM
subject Your Amazon.com Account
mailed-by bounces.amazon.com
signed-by amazon.com


Greetings from Amazon.com.

Thank you for keeping in touch with us regarding this matter.

Although we are not permitted to provide you with any additional
details regarding this unauthorized activity, we will provide this
information to any law enforcement agency investigating the matter, as
well as to any applicable financial institution.

Please remember, as mentioned in our previous message, you will need
to open a new Amazon.com account should you decide to place future
orders with us.

For increased password and account protection, we
strongly encourage you to adhere to the safety tips provided in our
prior correspondence.

Feel free to contact us with any additional questions or concerns,
and thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.


Sincerely,

Nusrath
Account Specialist
Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com

[herb fellows]

While this all appears legitimate, I'm very surprised that they leave it up to you to either open a new account or not, without so much as a little guidance.
Considering that you're a 7 year customer, you would think they would be a bit more anxious than they appear to be to retain your business.

When my Paypal account was screwed with, they bent over backwards to assure me that everything was ok and to set up the new account.

[radhak]

Amazon seems to have a long history of one-handed justice :
Google search for "amazon closed my account" throws up millions of results.

I guess I'm better off in that they acknowledged that I was the victim, and even apologized to me; maybe because I was the buyer not the seller.