Ever since things have become digitalized and manageable through the internet, our lives have become much easier, and yet there is a negative, dark side to it as well. It is not difficult for hackers to access our accounts and profiles, and such scams are probably happening every two days.
Online scams and frauds are at an all-time high and the latest victim to be caught up in another fraud incident is the online e-commerce giant, Amazon.
Around 100 seller accounts of Amazon were impacted by this fraud. Read on to know all about the latest phishing scam that victimized an institution as huge as Amazon.
Bank Credentials of 100 Account Sellers Changed
The whole incident unfolded between May and October 2018, and the accounts of around 100 sellers were drained of their money. Cybercriminals attacked their accounts and managed to siphon money from their accounts and transferred it to their own bank accounts.
As per the report drafted by the lawyers of Amazon, the attackers changed the bank account details of the Seller Central accounts to their own bank accounts. The U.K. legal document revealed that the fraudsters have their bank accounts with Barclays Plc and Prepay Technologies Ltd., which is partially owned by Mastercard Inc.
The hackers are yet to be identified and Amazon is still investigating as to what went down in the accounts of the victims. The money that has been stolen was granted to the sellers in the form of sales or loans by Amazon. However, Amazon did specify that an amount of more than $1 billion has been granted as loan. Also, the amount that has been stolen is yet to be revealed.
A Phishing Scam
Amazon has asked a judge in London to allow them to search for bank account statements related to the bank accounts at Barclays and Prepay. According to a lawyer who said in the court filing, the documents are necessary “to investigate the fraud, identify and pursue the wrongdoers, locate the whereabouts of misappropriated funds, bring the fraud to an end and deter future wrongdoing.”
Barclays has not responded on the case as such, however, a source has assured that the bank has closed down the accounts that have been used by the fraudsters.
This has been categorized as a phishing scam, wherein account holders are tricked into divulging their information such as bank details and other sensitive data to shrewd cybercriminals and hackers.
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