Did You Get Emails From Amazon About Gift Cards? It's a Mistake, Not a Scam
Oops. Amazon caused some panic this past weekend when the company accidentally sent out mass emails that many customers thought were scam messages.
Affected users say they received as many as three emails from the official Amazon domain claiming they had bought gift cards for Hotels.com, Mastercard, and Google Play. The emails thanked the user for making the purchases, but then warned them about scams involving gift cards. The message urged people to click a link with more information about the threat.
The problem is that those who received the emails never purchased any gift cards, so the messages sparked fears of phishing scams, or that their Amazon accounts had been hacked and used to make gift card purchases with saved credit cards.
A wave of worried consumers called Amazon about the emails, but it looks like the company sent out the emails by accident.
“I just got off the phone with [an Amazon] rep because I also received 3 emails regarding purchased Google Play, Hotels.com, and Mastercard gift cards,” one person wrote on Reddit. “Basically she told me they were poorly worded emails intended to warn customers about potential scams. Not in relation to any actual purchases made. They're being flooded with calls over it."
"I have been sitting on hold with Amazon for 20 minutes because I also got these three emails!" another user wrote.
It’s unclear why the error happened. But Amazon sent out a follow-up email to affected consumers, clarifying the emails had been sent out by mistake. "We have fixed this error so it won’t happen again, and are emailing these customers to inform them of the error and apologize for the inconvenience,” the company also told BleepingComputer.
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