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Scammers are calling people and using the names of two companies everyone knows, Apple and Amazon, to rip people off. Here’s what you need to know about these calls.

In one version of the scam, you get a call and a recorded message that says it’s Amazon. 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.

In another twist on the scam, you get a recorded message that says there’s been suspicious activity in your Apple iCloud account. In fact, they say your account may have been breached.

In both scenarios, the scammers say you can conveniently press 1 to speak with someone (how nice of them!). Or they give you a phone number to call. Don’t do either. It’s a scam. They’re trying to steal your personal information, like your account password or your credit card number.

If you get an unexpected call or message about a problem with any of your accounts, hang up.

  • Do not press 1 to speak with customer support
  • Do not call a phone number they gave you
  • Do not give out your personal information

If you think there may actually be a problem with one of your accounts, contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real.

Read our article to learn how to block unwanted calls on a mobile phone or on your home phone. And if you do get a call you think is a scam, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.


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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
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  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

april2021scam
April 13, 2021
I received several voicemails stating I owed Amazon $799 and to call back to confirm. In one of these barrage of calls, almost 20 in a row, I accidentally pressed 1 as I was toggling between another legitimate call. I purchase a lot of Amazon products so I thought it was real, and proceeded to ask the Indian woman on the phone (call center noise behind her) what charge and when was this $799 about, as soon as she said I had to download "www.anydesk.com" trial Remote Desktop for her to access my computer, that's when the red flag clicked. Ironically, I work for Amazon and proceeded to ask her for her Amazon Identification information so I can look her up. She kept pressuring me stating she didn't need to tell me that and to just click the button to download the software and that's when I started pressing her even more for her name and information because no Amazon employee would act in that manner, she ended up hanging up on me mid sentence due to reverse interrogation. After that call, I got double the amount of Amazon scam calls because my belief is that my number got listed as a valid legitimate number so more scammers tried calling me. After two days of intense spam and not answering, it subsided.
Donna
April 13, 2021
We got several messages like this some time ago. Getting another rash of them yesterday and today. Asks to call back at (315) 232-8257. Having no Apple products, it's pretty easy to not respond but they're grabbing local numbers and calling from those. Very annoying!
Chef Denise
April 13, 2021
Already received 6 calls today. 800 service. Usually is a number that looks legit. Same recording on all about my Amazon account. Can’t block. Verizon allows 300 blocked calls. Already there
SanDiego858
April 13, 2021
15 of these Robocalls in the last 2 hours on my landline voicemail while I was out to lunch today. Have never had one before. It's a computer generated voice purporting to be from Amazon. Every number on the Caller ID used my area code and first 3 digits of my phone number (fake numbers I am sure). Last call was over 20 minutes ago so crossing my fingers they have finally given up.
Cubs fan
April 13, 2021
Three calls today from what appeared to be a local number with the same voice mail message, for "Apple Support", asking me to dial 1 to speak to a representative, and leaving the number 315-232-8257. Can we shut these people down?
i dont have an…
April 13, 2021
I get No caller ID calls all the time its a recorded message saying they are going to debit my card for some amazon purchase i hang up at that point I don't have an Amazon account
Chris
April 14, 2021
8 calls today from local numbers saying apple support advisor
Joe
April 14, 2021
All calls said they were from Amazon regarding a purchase in Dayton, OH. Many calls every 10 minutes over the last 2 days. The numbers were: 855-468-4336, -8532 858-349-9248, -1605, -3415, -2045, -7484, -4796, -2077, -8319, -1236
Amalgam calls
April 14, 2021
So far today I've received 10 Amazon scam calls. After realizing that blocking numbers does not work I decided to let the calls ring through to my voicemail (just silenced the ring when the calls came in). The calls seem to have stopped. I'm hoping their robo-dialer decides that my number is not answering so it stops dialing me.
Broke
April 14, 2021
Three calls in the last two hours. All from 855 numbers claiming to be Amazon.
Rick
April 14, 2021
I use an answering machine for all of my landline calls. I turn the ringer on the phone off. 99% of the messages are scams.
Wajdey
April 15, 2021
+1 (323) 813-3908 A new msg from this number, Robo male voice. Same principle of hold on your amazon account
BK
April 15, 2021
617-507-1998 Spam call claiming to be from Amazon
Terry
April 15, 2021
For the last three to four months I keep getting calls from Amazon (at least they are stating they are Amazon) about me okaying a new G5 cell phone valued at any where from $1400 - $2000 and having to spend at least 1.5 to 2.00 hours being sure they do not CHARGE me for the new phone (I was forced into getting the G5 a couple months ago) and now I getting notices about me verifying ANOTHER G5 .
WillyC
April 15, 2021
It should be illegal and/or impossible for these scammers to put false numbers in Caller ID. I had one scam call that looked like I was calling myself. Blocking the number is useless because whatever number shows up, it isn’t their number and the next call uses another one.
John
April 15, 2021
Beware of phone number: 804 647 7438 FAKE AMAZOIN!
Jon
June 08, 2021

In reply to by John

They us a different number every time.....I've had 25 calls in one day from different #'s each time.
Califia
April 15, 2021
I receive calls from someone purporting to be Amazon and about a large purchase made. They tell me to call them if I didn't make the purchase. I received at least 8 of those calls all from different phone numbers in one day. Something needs to be done about these people.
Annoyed
April 16, 2021
Received numerous call from Amazon stating an issue with my account and to call or follow prompts I dont have an account with them
do not answer
April 16, 2021
I have a contact called 'Do Not Answer' and have over 300 numbers. Every time I encounter, I add spam number to this contact. Next time they call I do what my contact says 'Do Not Answer'. LOL
Don't Press 1
April 16, 2021
Four different numbers have called me in the last 2 hours. Each time an automated message claiming to be Amazon. Message prompts me me to press 1 to speak with someone regarding a 'suspicious purchase' on my account. Obvious scam and very irritating as I block one number only for a different one to call.
Fred
April 16, 2021
I have 3 phone lines in my house. Yesterday , I received about 20 calls in total on all three lines. At one point, two phones were ringing at the same time.
Troubled
April 16, 2021
Received a phone call from Amazon support saying there was a Apple Product charge of $1000.00 Please call to verify purchase by pressing 1 or calling Amazon support. My caller ID didn't show a number.
4-19-2021
April 19, 2021
They called today saying someone was trying to buy a iPhone on my account out of Ohio. I told them that my wife wanted to speak with them. They then hung up on me.
LibraryDude
April 19, 2021
I just got the combined- "You placed an order for an iPhone on your Amazon account and there is an issue" message. Scam!
Sickandtired
April 20, 2021
New phone number for the Amazon scam +1 (212) 433-8678 A New York number. Do not follow their directives.
cartergram
April 20, 2021
I received 5 calls in a row from them stating there has been a $729 charge to my Amazon account from someone in Ohio and I can press 1 to speak with a representative. On call 4 I pressed 1, reached someone who answered "Thank you for calling Amazon". I asked why they keep calling me and the rep hung up on me. Within 5 minutes, I received another call (#5 within a 30 min window), answered and pressed 1. I reached a male representative who also said "Thank you for calling Amazon". I then said that 1) I was reporting them to the FTC, 2) I know they are a scammer and 3) I am recording this call to give to the police. They hung up on me again. This is beyond ridiculous. I block their numbers but each time it's a different number coming in. I also use Verizon's Spam Filter and have it currently set to block high risk only. I will be changing it to medium and high-risk spam. Hopefully that works better.
chy26
April 21, 2021
They called and said that was fraudulent activity on my AMazon account. They gave me a persons name and asked if I knew them and told me they were trying to buy an I phone. Funny thing is I haven't had an Amazon account in my name for 3 years. He wanted me to log into my computer and I told him that I knew how to cancel orders and did not need his assistance. I also said I knew he wasn't calling from Amazon. I said I would call Amazon directly and he hung up. Imagine that.....
ireland56
April 21, 2021
i just received a voice mail message today 4/21/21 stating that they are from amazon and someone charged over $1,000 on my card and i called the number back because i was scared but he answered the phone "hello" instead of "this is amazon" so i figured it was a scam and called amazon to make sure there were no charges and thank God it was only charges that i made.
lagurl
April 22, 2021
i got a call a couple of days ago saying i have a iphone delivery which i did not order at all.
WoodyJohnson
April 22, 2021
I just got same exact call from 484-274-6858 with the same recording of purchase of apple mac pro... When i called back the number it was someone else who did not knew anything about it. How someone can say that when a minute ago got a call from them/that number!
Chely
April 22, 2021
Typically receive these calls on the regular. I press (1) and speak with the so called "representative". I ask them to provide the account in which they are referring to and they will hang up on me for asking that question. I keep blocking their number but it continuously changes.
Raychael
April 26, 2021
I have been getting this phone call every few hours saying there is a charge for an iPhone 11 from Ohio
Kris
April 28, 2021
I just received an Amazon scam call. I knew it was a scam and here is the gist: Said someone ordered an iphone from my account for $7xx, they have a temp hold on the amount, I asked and they gave me an actual home address for the "thief" and name, wanted me to go to an amazon site with the zoho extension - I did not get further than that but I was looking for a screenshot for what that site looks like and could not find one because they kept asking what I was seeing on my screen. Does anyone have a screenshot of that? I am assuming it is some kind of remote access deal? I appreciate the help and they hung up on my after 15 minutes of me wasting their time.
C
April 28, 2021
I am getting an amazon fake call every 4 minutes from various numbers on my landline.
TX LT
April 29, 2021
858-946-9042 left me a voice mail message similar to the sample above "from Amazon" saying that $537.35 had been debited from my account for this charge and to press 1 to be connected to Amazon Support, if this wasn't authorized by me. I thought it was a scam and your examples were wonderful to confirm my suspicions. THANK YOU!
Butterflies
May 04, 2021
I’ve gotten 11 phones calls from Amazon today. They call from the same number but change the last 4 numbers
Don
May 04, 2021
Got 18 calls one day, all different numbers same message
Jen
May 04, 2021
Number that called me claiming to be amazon was 0490 413 943
Binton
May 05, 2021
A call from 764 426 4943 scam
JT
May 23, 2021
It's fruitless to block a number that calls you're number with this scam because the originating phone number is spoofed! I mean, I've gotten 3 different phone calls today from the same (Area code) +3 digit prefix and the only numbers that are different are the last 4 numbers. It doesn't take much to realize that the scammers are using some sort of auto-dialer using a range of phone numbers that do not represent who they are, where they are calling from. There has to be a better way to block these calls.
Willia
May 23, 2021
I kept getting calls from these scammers all day on Friday. They called at least 20 times. I could not block the number as each call was from the same area code and first 3 numbers but the last 4 were different on almost every call. It’s incredibly frustrating as I am dealing with something personal and extremely urgent phone calls kept getting interrupted. I could not disable that either as I was talking to people while expecting calls from others on the same personal matter. Sometimes this stuff is just annoying. But when you are dealing with a tragedy, it just feels cruel. I did not answer any of their calls, but they kept leaving the same message on my voicemail. It has continued through the weekend. I deleted around 12 voicemails on Friday (when they left them) and more today. Is there anything the FTC can do?
Marie
May 24, 2021
I had a phone call from 07744 782685. Saying they were from Amazon and something wrong with my account and they need to renew my service they were trying to get me to install software on my phone SCAMMER and THIEVES!
Annoyed
June 04, 2021
I've gotten at least 15 calls in the last 3 hours...same as the others reported...same area code and the same first 3 numbers of my number for the majority of the calls....ask to call back 315-232-8257. You can't block because they call from other numbers.
Sim1dp
June 07, 2021
Just received a call asking me to renew my subscription and to press 1... I don’t have a subscription....
Enough is enough
June 07, 2021
Why can't there be some kind of "lock" on all of our cell phones that keep these scammers from using the public's personal phone numbers? I've rec'd calls and or text from numbers unknown to me but because I come from a large family and don't have all of their phone numbers I tend to answer these calls and or call/text them back and those "unknown" numbers seem to always belong to regular people like myself.
MichelleM
June 09, 2021
I started receiving these calls today from a local number. I blocked the number and every 20 minutes or so, I get another call from a different local number. This has been going on for hours today.
Anonymous
June 13, 2021
I have just started receiving these calls today. They are coming in every 5-10 minutes from all different numbers in my NPA-NXX. It's really getting annoying. Somebody should be able to stop this.
HopefulPerson1949
June 13, 2021
Dear FTC, Please make these type of calls illegal. It would at least feel like there is some hope in stopping these scams. It will also help in getting some retribution for those that have been scammed.
Just my two cent
June 14, 2021
Why doesn't the government create a website where we can generate emails and passwords to then give to them so that they can track the IP addresses?