WSJ: Amazon's Third-Party Sellers Hit By Hackers

I know a lot of folks around here use Amazon Marketplace. I just got snookered by one of these fraudulent sellers (dealing in books) so felt like warning my music junkie peers about the warning signs. That really good deal on a rare item may be phony:

Amazon’s Third-Party Sellers Hit By Hackers

 

Good to know

 

Wow, I'm pretty sure I saw one of these hacked accounts. I was looking for an out-of-print item (I've forgotten what it was now, either a book or a CD) a couple of days ago, and one seller had it listed for much less than anyone else, at the odd amount of $9.69. I was about to pull the trigger when I glanced at some of the other items he had listed, and every one of them was priced at the same amount. I figured it had to be some sort of scam and moved on, and didn't think about it again until I saw this thread.

 

Same here. Currently have about $100 tied up in multiple items I still haven't received from a suspicious seller who hasn't responded to any of my emails.
These fraudulent Amazon sellers are adding listings for new merchandise at unreasonably low prices, although they never actually intend to ship the product. The fake seller pretends to ship the item to a buyer using a false or incorrect tracking number. In order for the item to be shipped by the seller and received by the buyer, Amazon allows for a certain window of time. Long before the first date when a concerned buyer is allowed to file their first complaint, the scammer has withdrawn available funds from received payments. In cases where the scammers are operating from remote or international locations, this makes matters even more complicated. As buyers, I know we will eventually receive a refund for the entire purchase price. However, I'm not sure how easy it is for Amazon to recoup their losses.

 

Same as above, I just placed an order for a $7 book but then looked over the sellers inventory and saw they have thousands of items for all the same price so I know it's a con. I quickly contacted Amazon and told them the situation. They sent a message to the seller that I request cancellation and if they don't respond in X number of days I can make an A-Z claim and get a refund.

What exactly do these fake sellers gain by this? Is it just to gain my personal contact information? Should I be afraid?

 

I don't believe the sellers have any way to view your full credit card number and I'm not sure what they would do with just your mailing address. My guess is they're able to withdraw enough available funds from payments received and close their bank account before Amazon are able to freeze their account or do a chargeback on behalf of the victimized customer.

 

Strangely I've just received shipping confirmation. I'm sure it's B.S. but I guess I have to wait and see before filing a claim. Amazon instructed the seller to cancel my payment authorization and they didn't.

 

Very interesting. Does the shipping confirmation include a tracking number where you can see the destination? In some cases, these scam sellers have reused tracking numbers, other times they show an item shipping to an entirely different location . Many of these fraud sellers are often hiding behind a proxy, which prevents them from being traced by IP address.

 

No tracking info available as of yet. I'm sure there isn't one coming, they are just milking this for all it's worth. And Amazon told them to cancel the order and they didn't so they clearly aren't on the up and up.

 

Got my refund from Amazon. Looks like they took the seller's storefront down.

 

Some fraction of buyers forget about the purchase or had it shipped as a gift to somewhere else, and never pursue a refund when the item isn't delivered.

As for A-Z...you get a limited number of uses of that over the lifetime of your account, so it's better to be pro-active in not buying from these scammers than having to resort to using it later on.