Amazon has become the go-to source for online shoppers all over the world.
You can find just about anything you’re looking for without leaving your home. With prices so low there’s no need to take out a personal loan or be worried about racking up consumer debt. Plus, most products are available for same-day or next-day shipping with Amazon Prime.
But unfortunately, Amazon is not immune to scams. To some victims who’ve received faulty products or had a miserable time dealing with sellers, Amazon has sometimes been dubbed ‘scamazon’.
While scams are happening every day on the online shopping platform, you can drastically reduce your odds of getting scammed on Amazon by knowing what to watch for.
Amazon Scams
You might think that spotting potential scams on Amazon and other e-commerce websites would be easy. For instance, super-low prices, and sellers with strange foreign names might be obvious red flags. But unfortunately, scammers are getting sophisticated and are making their listings look like the real deal.
For instance, a lot of scammers will have:
- legitimate-sounding business names
- a ton of positive reviews
- prices that seem fair and reflect the industry standard
With listings like these, it’s making it very difficult for online shoppers to differentiate between tricksters and legitimate vendors. The only way you’ll find out if you’ve been scammed is when you receive a cheap product not even worthy of a significantly-discounted price.
Why Isn’t Amazon Doing Anything About The Amazon Scams?
Now that you’re aware of these Amazon scams that nefarious sellers are pulling. You may be wondering why Amazon has not put a stop to them. After all, fraud is illegal, and scammers seem to be running rampant on the e-commerce site. It would make sense for Amazon to take legal action against these fraudsters and get their money back.
The thing is, cracking down on them could actually do more harm to legitimate sellers than to the crooks themselves. Here are a few reasons why Amazon has not taken a hard stance against the ‘scamazon’ scheme.
Amazon Scams: Scammers Use Nonsense Trademarks
Anyone who sells on Amazon must have a trademark. However, it’s tough to come up with a name that someone else hasn’t already claimed. Given the sheer volume of businesses out there. The odds of a sensical, easily-pronounced name having already been trademarked by someone else are pretty high.
Scammers need many trademarks to carry out their shenanigans. Since they’re likely to get reported and eventually banned from the e-commerce platform. They need a lot of trademarks to move on to each time they’re kicked off.
This is why they make up nonsensical names. When they get banned, they only need to change one letter to file a new trademark. Then pick up where they left off selling. Amazon scammers are continuously creating new shell companies in order to make business partnerships more obscure, move their money, and avoid responsibility.
Amazon Scams: It Costs Amazon More To Catch Scammers Than To Compensate Victims
Even if Amazon wanted to try and get their money back from scammers, they’d be met with several hurdles. Much of the cheap products involved in these scams come from countries like China where wholesale products are much cheaper than US- or Canada-made products.
Unfortunately, China’s legal system is nowhere near as fair and transparent as ours is. Even if China’s legal system was easier to navigate. The cost of going after countless scammers would probably be much higher than any returns they may realize.
Amazon seems to have decided that preventing these scams costs more than compensating victims of these scams. So it’s just not worth it from a financial perspective.
Amazon Scams: Restricting Product Page Editing Would Hurt Everyone
As mentioned, one of the ways that scammers on Amazon lure unsuspecting victims into buying their products is to attract them with a slew of positive ratings and reviews. If Amazon wanted to crack down on scammers, they could restrict sellers’ ability to edit their product pages.
If Amazon took this approach, legitimate sellers would have a tough time. When trying to correct mistakes on their product listings and ensuring their pages accurately reflect product revisions. While this might be a way to make it more difficult for scammers. It would also make things more challenging for honest sellers. Which would put a huge damper on the e-commerce platform.
Why Can’t Amazon Block The Product?
If scammers are selling worthless products, why can’t Amazon just thwart them and stop issuing payments, especially when negative reviews are growing? There are a couple of key reasons why the e-commerce giant doesn’t take this step.
Scammers Can Stall The Banning Process
Some customers might use their products immediately as soon as they get them, then report their disapproval after quickly discovering that the product is a scam. But not all those who make a purchase, use the item right away. So they may not realize they’ve been scammed until weeks later. By then, the scammers will have scammed enough customers and disappeared.
The goal is to keep listings up for as long as possible and maintain the facade of legitimate brands. To do this, scammers may also gaslight customers.
Scammers may also gaslight customers by insinuating that the product is a defective item, or that the customer may not be using the product correctly, for instance. The sellers may even pretend to take the customer through troubleshooting steps. Eventually, some customers may simply give up on the process, thinking the effort of getting a return or refund is not worth the cost of the item (especially with less expensive products).
Even if negative reviews did start to spike, sellers can appeal them anyway.
Amazon Won’t Risk Damage To Their Brand
Again, some steps that Amazon may take to restrict the success of scammers may inadvertently affect legitimate sellers, too. For instance, Amazon could simply not pay scammers when it’s payday. But if the e-commerce platform slashed the frequency of their payouts, or if they went so far as to withhold payouts — including from legitimate sellers — the damage to their brand could be disastrous.
How Do You Know If A Seller On Amazon Is A Scam?
To protect yourself from being a victim of an Amazon scam, you need to become familiar with some potential red flags. Here are a few steps you should take before completing a purchase.
Read The Reviews
It’s always a good idea to read reviews before buying a product to see what previous customers have to say about it. Even though scammers may have a ton of positive reviews, there may still be a way to spot these fraudsters by looking at specific details about reviews.
Check The Review Dates
Even if a product has good reviews, be skeptical if all the positive reviews are made within a short time span. Scammers will often buy reviews in bulk.
Look For Fake Reviewers
Scan through the 5-star ratings and decipher whether or not they seem artificial. Look for signs such as one or two-word reviews or overly-zealous remarks like “Excellent product!”, and click on a reviewer’s profile to check out their review history to see if they look legit.
Match The Review To The Product
Sometimes, reviews do not match the product. Sellers can change their products but leave the product page as is to cheat the system. More specifically, scammers may post a specific product, then change it to a much cheaper product. Real reviewers often mention the item name in their reviews, so you can tell if the reviews match the actual product listed.
Check The FAQ Sections
Amazon features a FAQ section where would-be customers can ask questions about a product, and actual customers who’ve bought the product will answer them. Aside from the reviews, be sure to scour through these questions and answers, which are left behind by real people leaving feedback.
Ideally, there should be a good number of questions asked and helpful responses by happy customers. A product with many positive reviews but few questions and answers is a red flag.
Watch Out For Prices That Are Too Good To Be True
You might be looking for a good deal, but ultra-low prices are something to be skeptical of. You should also look out for list prices that start off over-inflated, and eventually drop significantly to make their listings more attractive.
Match The Name Of The Seller And Shipper
Look for the “sold by” name under the “Add to Cart/Buy Now” section and see if it’s the same as the brand name under the product description. If the names don’t match, this could be a red flag (unless the product is fulfilled by Amazon).
What To Do If You’ve Been A Victim Of An Amazon Scam?
If you’ve fallen prey to a scam, reach out to the seller to request a refund or to report problems with a faulty product. If the seller is not helpful or impossible to get in touch with, you’ll have to reach out to Amazon to report the fraud by calling the complaint line at 1-866-216-1075.
Will An Amazon Scam Affect Your Credit Score?
If you’ve made a purchase on Amazon like normal, your credit score won’t be affected. However, if the seller reached out to you via email and you provided personal information such as your credit card number or social insurance number, your credit may be affected as a result of identity theft.
If you provided any personal or financial information to the seller, be sure to check your credit report and credit score to ensure no one has opened any credit accounts under your name.
How To Get A Refund For Amazon Scams
It’s highly possible that the scammer’s storefront may have already disappeared before you’ve had a chance to report a bad review, ask the seller a question, or request a refund. If you’re dealing with this type of short-lived seller who is no longer active, you can request a refund through Amazon.
The e-commerce site offers a flexible A-to-Z Guarantee claim policy that reimburses customers for payments up to specific limits in cases where sellers are unwilling to help. You have up to 90 days after the date you receive the product to access this guarantee. You can also only make this claim after you’ve made an effort to resolve the issue directly with the seller.
Legitimate sellers do not want an A-to-Z Guarantee claim on their records, so they’ll do what they can to help a customer reach a resolution without involving Amazon. But when it comes to scammers who are nowhere to be found, Amazon will step in with this guarantee for eligible cases.
Final Thoughts On Amazon Scams
Scams exist everywhere, including on Amazon. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a ‘scamazon’ victim. Understanding the types of scams that fraudsters try to pull on Amazon is a good way of protecting yourself. By understanding the scam, you can look out for specific red flags that can help keep you protected.
