How to protect yourself from scams like "Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked"

What is "Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked"?

Upon reviewing the email, we identified it as a phishing attempt designed to deceive recipients into divulging personal information. Disguised as an official notification from Amazon, the fraudulent email includes a link leading to a counterfeit page. Recipients are strongly advised to disregard and refrain from interacting with this email to mitigate potential risks.

More about the "Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked" scam email

The scam email, appearing to be from Amazon, carries the subject line "YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED". Addressed as if sent by Amazon, it claims that the recipient's account has been suspended due to suspicious activity, specifically citing unusual transactions.

The email urges the recipient to unfreeze their account by verifying their account information to confirm their identity. This phishing attempt is designed to trick individuals into providing sensitive personal details under the guise of resolving a supposed account lockout.

Upon clicking the "Verify Your Account" button in the email, recipients are directed to a deceptive webpage designed to mimic Amazon's sign-in page. On this fraudulent page, unsuspecting users are prompted to enter their email address or phone number, along with their password - essentially handing over their login credentials to scammers.

With stolen Amazon login credentials, scammers can gain unauthorized access to the victim's Amazon account, potentially making fraudulent purchases using saved payment methods or accessing sensitive order information.

Also, scammers may exploit the account to change its settings, such as shipping addresses or contact details, redirecting deliveries and making it harder for the account owner to detect unauthorized transactions.

If the victim uses the same login information across multiple platforms, scammers can attempt to access other accounts, including email, banking, or social media, leading to further privacy breaches and potential financial losses.

Threat Summary:

Name	Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's Amazon account has been locked
Disguise	Notification from Amazon
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. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Similar scam emails in general

Phishing emails typically employ urgent or alarming subject lines to create a sense of immediate concern, urging recipients to take swift action. The body of the email often contains grammatical errors or inconsistencies, reflecting a lack of professionalism.

Also, such emails commonly include deceptive links or buttons that, when clicked, redirect users to fraudulent websites designed to mimic legitimate ones. As a rule, scammers request sensitive information, such as login credentials or personal details, under the guise of addressing urgent issues.

Some examples of emails used to steal information are "WELL Earn Eligibility", "Netflix - Update Your Payment Details", and "Cashier Check". It is important to note that links and files in emails of this kind can be malicious.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails used to deliver malware include a link or an attachment that, when clicked or opened, can execute a malicious script or install malware on the recipient's computer. This malware can range from viruses and ransomware to spyware, allowing the attacker to gain unauthorized access, steal sensitive information, or compromise the system's functionality.

Malware can be delivered through various file types attached to emails, with common formats including executable files (.exe), Microsoft Word documents (.doc, .docx), archives (.zip, .rar), Excel spreadsheets (.xls, .xlsx), and JavaScript (.js) files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Exercise caution with irrelevant emails, especially those from unknown or unexpected senders. Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from untrusted sources. Install and regularly update reputable antivirus and anti-malware software to detect and remove potential threats. Do not interact with ads, pop-ups, buttons, and links on suspicious websites.

Download content (files and apps) from official web pages or app stores. Avoid using pirated software or cracking tools. Enable automatic updates for your operating system.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked" email letter:

Subject: YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED

amazon

Dear Client,

YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED

Due to suspicious activity including several unusual transactions on your Amazon Acount your Acount is suspended until further notice.

To unfreeze your account, please verify your account information IMMEDIATELY to confirm your identity.

Verify Your Account

Screenshot of the phishing page utilized in this campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is Amazon - Your Account Has Been Locked phishing email?
• 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?

Criminals dispatch identical letters to thousands of recipients, anticipating that the scheme will deceive someone among the recipients. These spam emails lack personalization and are broadly distributed in the hopes of finding vulnerable targets.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

Go to the official Amazon website and change your password immediately. Choose a strong and unique password that you have not used elsewhere. Report the phishing incident to Amazon and any relevant authorities.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to an email, is my computer infected?

The probability of infection fluctuates depending on the file type accessed. For instance, opening executables can lead to immediate computer infection, while malicious document files generally necessitate additional user interaction, like enabling macros, for the infection to occur.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Simply opening an email is typically not a source of worry. The real risk emerges when individuals actively interact with the email, such as clicking on links or opening attached files.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner excels in identifying and eradicating various known malware infections. However, it is important to acknowledge that advanced malware can conceal itself deeply within the system. Therefore, conducting a thorough full system scan is essential for achieving effective removal.

▼ Show Discussion