Fraud Alert: New Online Fraud Scheme Poses as Amazon to Gain Online Banking Access

Needham Bank has been made aware of an uptick in fraud that utilizes a fictitious Amazon refund to get customers to provide their personal banking information. In a recent example, a fraudster received the customer’s personal information and gained access to their online banking account. They then made a transfer in the amount of $10,000 from the customer’s savings to their checking to trick them into thinking they received a wrongful refund from Amazon.

Upon seeing the $10,000 in their checking balance, the customer believed that the refund had occurred and were prepared to deliver the funds to the scammers in cash as requested. In this example, under further investigation, it was realized that the funds were just transferred between accounts before the customer could give any money to the scammers and the police were notified.

If you have been contacted by someone pretending to be from Amazon, please don’t give any personal information over the phone. If you are unsure of the legitimacy of the phone call, hang up and call Amazon directly to verify before going any further.

In the event you’ve already given your information to a suspicious person posing as Amazon, please contact your financial institution immediately and ask to have your online banking account frozen and your account numbers changed. You should also scrub your computer for viruses and make sure to change your passwords to be safe and contact your local police department.

One of the benefits of being a Needham Bank customer is a team of online banking experts that can help walk you through the necessary steps to secure your accounts again. If you’re a Needham Bank customer who suspects fraud of this or any nature on your account, please contact our online banking team at 781-444-2100 and press 2.