You are just going about your day, when you get a call or text from Amazon. Someone has ordered a very expensive piece of electronics, and if that is not you, they need to know. You’re connected with a customer service rep who wants you to let them access your computer and your bank account so that they can refund the item. But then, oh no! They’ve refunded too much and you are obligated to pay them back - with gift cards or otherwise hard-to-recover payments.

This scam usually involves a later-model iPhone or MacBook, though sometimes AirPods are mentioned as well, so I am calling this scam the Amazon Apple Product Fraud Message scam

In many ways, this is a version of the Unpurchased Purchases scam, but instead of an antivirus or similar subscription it’s a physical item, and instead of a piece of paper they either call you (phone version) or direct you to call them (text message version).

How to protect yourself
The most important thing to remember here is that Amazon does not contact customers about unusual orders. They definitely don’t do so via a phone call, and the only text one should be getting from them is if 2-factor authentication is enabled. Don’t press 1, just hang up, and don’t call any number (except maybe Amazon’s).

The fact they want to remote into your computer is a huge red flag. Never ever ever let someone you don’t know remote into your computer, especially if they have you download the program of their choice. An actual internal security team will never need to access your computer or your bank account. They have their own tools to deal with fraud and refunds, they don’t need to see your desktop or your bank balance.

If you are unsure, log into your Amazon account using your normal means to see if there is any order like the one described. You can also check your archived orders as well. In any case, you should not find an order as mentioned in the phone call/text.