Avoid getting scammed by fake "Amazon Prime" emails offering exclusive deals
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is the "Amazon Prime" email scam?
"Amazon Prime email scam" refers to a spam campaign. These German-language scam emails claim that recipients have been selected to get a special offer on Amazon Prime - the subscription program of the tech giant's Amazon's e-commerce section.
It must be emphasized that the letters in question are fake and in no way associated with Amazon Prime or Amazon.com, Inc.
"Amazon Prime" email scam overview
According to a rough translation, the fraudulent "Amazon Prime" emails state the recipient has been chosen to receive a special offer. To get the offer, recipients are requested to complete a survey. When the confirm button ("BESTÄTIGEN") is clicked, it redirects to the fake survey page. After the questionnaire, the deceptive website displays an offer of a brand new Apple iPhone that can be purchased for two euros.
As mentioned in the introduction, these emails are illegitimate. Therefore, users will not receive any products bought at an unbelievably discounted rate. Furthermore, victims of this scam can experience other severe issues as well.
Emails scams like the fake "Amazon Prime" can operate by tricking victims into paying bogus fees for nonexistent products/gifts (e.g., taxes, shipping, subscription, etc.). Such schemes often request the payments to be made via dubious payment gateways that work as phishing scams. This type of webpage records the information entered into it.
Phishing can target a wide variety of data, e.g., personally identifiable details, account log-in credentials (usernames/passwords), credit card numbers, and other vulnerable information. Finance-related data can be used by cyber criminals to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.
Phishing letters can also target the log-in credentials of emails and other accounts. Emails are of particular interest as through them - control might be gained over other accounts and platforms connected to them. E-commerce accounts are sought after as they can be used to make unauthorized purchases on the platform. Alternatively, these accounts can store finance data, which can then be used for nefarious purposes.
To summarize, by trusting these "Amazon Prime" or other scam emails - users can experience system infections, severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
| Name | Amazon Prime Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Scam emails claim that recipients can get a special offer by completing a survey. |
| Disguise | Scam emails are disguised as notifications form Amazon Prime. |
| Related Domains | location-prime.powerteamsports[.]com |
| Detection Names (location-prime.powerteamsports[.]com) | Avira (Phishing), Emsisoft (Phishing), ESET (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), Webroot (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Symptoms | Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Spam campaigns in general
"FileShare Email Scam", "Download The Pending Mails Manually", "ING Bank Email Scam", and "Your Email Account Has Been Reported For Spam Abuse" are some examples of spam emails.
In addition to phishing and other scams, deceptive letters are also employed to proliferate malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). "Craiglist Email Virus", "Adobe Acrobat Email Virus", and "Google Pay Email Virus" are a few examples of such emails.
Spam mail is relatively widespread - therefore, it is highly recommended to exercise caution with incoming emails and messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam emails distribute malware via infectious files attached to them or download links present in the letters. Virulent files can be Microsoft Office and PDF documents, archives, executables, JavaScript, or other formats. They trigger the infection chains/processes - when they are opened.
For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands. This occurs automatically in Microsoft Office versions released prior to 2010. Later versions have "Protected View" mode that prevents this; instead, users can manually enable macros (i.e., editing/content). Note that infectious documents can contain messages intended to trick users into allowing macro commands.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is advised against opening suspect and irrelevant emails. The attachments and links found in them - must not be opened/clicked, since they can cause system infections. It is also recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.
Other common malware distribution techniques include - dubious download channels (e.g., unofficial and freeware sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc.), illegal software activation tools ("cracks"), and fake updates. Therefore, it is crucial to download only from official/verified sources and activate/update software with tools provided by legitimate developers.
Furthermore, it is paramount to have a dependable anti-virus/anti-spyware installed and updated. These programs have to be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the fake "Amazon Prime" email letter:
Hallo -
Amazon Prime ist für alle!
Herzliche Glückwünsche!
Der Besitzer dieser E-Mail-ID wurde für ein Sonderangebot ausgewählt.
Beantworten Sie alle Fragen, um das Geschenk zu erhalten.
BESTÄTIGEN
Appearance of the deceptive website promoted by the "Amazon Prime" spam campaign (GIF):
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Quick menu:
- What is Amazon Prime spam?
- Types of malicious emails.
- How to spot a malicious email?
- What to do if you fell for an email scam?
Types of malicious emails:
Phishing Emails
Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.
Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.
After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.
Emails with Malicious Attachments
Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.
If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.
While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.
Sextortion Emails
This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.
To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.
How to spot a malicious email?
While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:
- Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
- Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
- Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
- Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.
To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
Example of a spam email:
What to do if you fell for an email scam?
- If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
- If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
- If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
- If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
- Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did I receive this email?
Cyber criminals send the same spam email to thousands of users - in the hopes that at least some of them will fall for their scam. Hence, this mail is not personal.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?
If you have disclosed account credentials - change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and contact their official support without delay. And if the provided data was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) - immediately contact the corresponding authorities.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, opening and reading a spam email will not initiate any malware download/installation chains. Infections are triggered when attachments or links present in such letters - are opened/clicked.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?
If the opened file was an executable, then most likely - yes, your system was infected. However, you might have avoided triggering such processes if it was a document (e.g., .doc, .pdf, etc.). These formats can require additional actions (e.g., macro commands enablement, etc.) - to begin downloading/installing malicious software.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a full system scan is crucial - since that high-end malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.
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