Amazon Prime Day 2019 scams plague online shoppers looking for best deals

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Amazon Prime Day has become a magnet for online shoppers seeking out the best deals from one of the world's biggest sales events, though cyber security experts warn that criminals are also being drawn in by the potential spoils on offer.

Since launching in 2015, Amazon Prime Day has grown each year and now spans across two days from 15 July to 16 July. In 2018, the shopping extravaganza racked up more than $1 billion in sales for the online retail giant and this year is expected to be even bigger.

With so much money flowing through the internet pipelines for Amazon Prime Day 2019, its no wonder that cyber crooks have also marked this day in their calenders as one to profit from.

How to get the best deals for Amazon Prime Day 2019

Researchers at cyber security firm McAfee discovered one such criminal enterprise that involves targeting Amazon shoppers with phishing emails, aimed at stealing their login details.

By posing as Amazon, the scam involves warning customers that their account security has been compromised. The Amazon users are then redirected to a fake site where they are encouraged to update their login and account details.

Through this process, the cyber criminals are then able to uncover the user's login information and credit card details in order to make purchases through their account.

"We believe that victims of this kit will be led to the malicious websites via links in phishing emails," the McAfee researchers warned in a blog post detailing the phishing scam.

"We recommend that if users want to check any account changes on Amazon, which they received via email or other sources, that they go to Amazon.com directly and navigate from there rather than following suspicious links."

Online shoppers can also improve their safety by introducing extra security measures for their accounts, such as two-factor authentication.