{"id":225,"date":"2021-06-17T14:44:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T19:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/wisconsin\/foundation\/resources\/man-lost-124000-amazon-scam-here-are-10-ways-keep-it-happening-you-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T06:19:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T11:19:28","slug":"man-lost-124000-in-amazon-scam-here-are-10-ways-to-keep-it-from-happening-to-you-2","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/wisconsin\/foundation\/resources\/man-lost-124000-in-amazon-scam-here-are-10-ways-to-keep-it-from-happening-to-you-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Man lost $124,000 in Amazon scam. Here are 10 ways to keep it from happening to you"},"featured_media":12702,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[157],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"resource_type":[67],"region_tax":[],"state":[7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"topic_tax":[124],"class_list":["post-225","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":67,"event_type":false,"campaigns":157,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[2,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"","excerpt":"In light of some of these newer cons, here is actionable information to help you avoid the aggravation, time and financial losses that come with sophisticated scams.","featured_image":12702,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":null,"related_event":null,"hide_hero_image":false,"location":"","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

June 17, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

By Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog<\/em><\/p>\n

In the last few weeks, two residents from Greater Cleveland have been ripped off for thousands of dollars by con-artists claiming to be from Amazon. In one case, an elderly man lost more than $100,000.<\/p>\n

It seems Amazon may be the new IRS or Microsoft. Not too many years ago (and it still happens occasionally today), consumers would get calls claiming to be from the IRS (supposedly about back taxes) or Microsoft (supposedly about a problem with your computer). Consumers would get swindled out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

In recent months, regulators and consumer advocates have seen a spike in complaints<\/a> about scams invoking the Amazon name, as well as Apple. In May, in fact, YouMail, a call protection company, issued a warning<\/a> about Amazon imposter calls. It said Americans are receiving 100 million to 150 million illegal robocalls per month from con-artists claiming to be from Amazon.<\/p>\n

In a version of the ripoff that involves Amazon, consumers get a recorded message supposedly from Amazon that there\u2019s a problem with their Amazon account \u2014 maybe suspected fraud or a lost order, according to the Federal Trade Commission<\/a> (FTC).<\/p>\n

Here are tales of two recent victims:<\/p>\n