Guernsey Press

Pensioner warns of scammers pretending to be from Amazon

A PENSIONER narrowly avoided being scammed for her bank details and wants to raise awareness of the issue among islanders.

Published
A 71-year-old woman contacted the Guernsey Press to raise awareness of a phone scam from people pretending to work for Amazon Prime. (25776307)

The 71-year-old contacted the Guernsey Press after being on the phone to her bank for two hours ensuring that no details were leaked and no money had been taken after receiving a call from someone claiming to be from Amazon Prime.

‘The phone call asked if I wanted to be charged for a payment for Amazon Prime and if I didn’t I should press 2,’ she explained.

‘I had recently started an Amazon Prime trial and it was coming to the end of the free month but I didn’t want to continue with [Prime] so I did what they said, I guess because of circumstance it all seemed pretty plausible.’

She was then put through to a person who told her to log on to a website called viewer.com and press the download button.

‘That was the one step I had to do – the guy at the bank said if I had done that, [the scammers] could access my computer and bank details.’

Although she does not consider herself someone who could be ‘easily duped’, the woman was surprised that the scam would have worked in only three steps.

‘I wanted to tell the Press to keep people in the loop about recent scams and frauds.

‘I just escaped by the skin of my teeth,’ she said.

The pensioner reported the incident to her bank and to the police.

A Trading Standards spokesman said they were aware of the scam and advised islanders to never disclose sensitive information in phone calls from unknown numbers or click suspicious links in emails.

‘To verify whether your Amazon account needs updating with your personal information open the www.amazon.co.uk website in your browser and log into your account. In the section “Your account” you will find all your information details, if any of them require attention it will show on the website.’

For more information on how to protect yourself against scams visit www.gov.gg/scams.

Islanders who receive a scam attempt or require support and advice should contact Guernsey Trading Standards on 234567.

If you have lost money as a result of a scam, call Guernsey Police on 725111.

  • The phone number the pensioner was called from was 0049451 70739376.