Watch Out for Phone Scams Pretending to Be Apple or Amazon, FTC Warns

If you get a sudden phone call from Apple or Amazon about your user account, be on guard: You’re probably getting scammed. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission, fraudsters have been using both brands to try and trick people into handing over their personal information, including their credit card numbers. On Thursday, the agency published a blog post documenting how robocalls pretending to be either Apple or Amazon have been preying on unsuspecting consumers. 

“In one version of the scam, you get a call and a recorded message that says it’s Amazon,” the FTC said. “The message says there’s something wrong with your account. It could be a suspicious purchase, a lost package, or an order they can’t fulfill.”

The FTC’s blog post also contains recorded audio samples of the robocalls. In the first example, the phone message says: “An unauthorized purchase of an iPhone XR 64GB for $749 was being ordered from your Amazon account.” It’ll then ask the recipient to “press 1 or stay on the line” to talk with a customer support rep to cancel the order. 

In the second example, the robocall from the scammer pretends to be Apple. “Suspicious activities in your iCloud account then your iCloud account has been breached,” the message claims. “Before using any Apple device, please contact Apple support advisor.”

Both robocalls try to convince the victim to act fast to secure their account. But in reality, the scammers are simply trying to scare people into handing over their personal information, the FTC said. As a result, the commission is advising consumers to ignore the calls and hang up. 

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If you do suspect there’s something wrong with your account, you should first visit the official Amazon.com or Apple.com/iCloud.com websites, which also contain customer support information. 

The FTC’s warning arrives as the FBI is also telling the public to be on guard against holiday shopping scams, which can also involve fake emails or ads pretending to be from major companies. “Consumers should steer clear of untrustworthy sites or ads offering items at unrealistic discounts or with special coupons,” the FBI added. “The victims end up paying for an item, give away personal information and credit card details, then receive nothing in return except a compromised or stolen identity.”