Amazon glitch gift card emails

[Cmaier]

I got three emails tonight from Amazon (legit from them - they also show up in Message Center on Amazon’s site), thanking me for buying a hotels.com, google.play, and Mastercard gift card (And warning me about gift card scams).

Since I didn’t buy any gift cards, I was naturally concerned, and double-checked that no transactions of that sort are found on Amazon’s website or at my bank.

I called Amazon to inquire, but their customer service is melting down - apparently they sent this to everyone (or at least lots of people)? There’s a thread on it at reddit, with everyone getting 3 mails about exactly the same gift cards. Nobody at customer service seems to know what is happening. I’ve been on hold for 25 minutes waiting to speak to someone - at this point I am not worried about it, but I am curious what they have to say about it.

 

[Eric]

Okay, will keep an eye out but haven't gotten anything yet.

 

[Cmaier]

Okay, will keep an eye out but haven't gotten anything yet.

Just got off the phone with them. Took about 45 minutes before someone answered. They confirmed it was a technical problem and they’re working on it, and that the delay was due to everyone calling.

 

[Citysnaps]

I got three emails tonight from Amazon (legit from them - they also show up in Message Center on Amazon’s site), thanking me for buying a hotels.com, google.play, and Mastercard gift card (And warning me about gift card scams).

Since I didn’t buy any gift cards, I was naturally concerned, and double-checked that no transactions of that sort are found on Amazon’s website or at my bank.

I called Amazon to inquire, but their customer service is melting down - apparently they sent this to everyone (or at least lots of people)? There’s a thread on it at reddit, with everyone getting 3 mails about exactly the same gift cards. Nobody at customer service seems to know what is happening. I’ve been on hold for 25 minutes waiting to speak to someone - at this point I am not worried about it, but I am curious what they have to say about it.

I just got two... hotels.com and Mastercard gift cards. At 8:28pm. I checked my purchase history and no transactions.

So how is this scam supposed to work? If I control-hover over the links they appear to go to amazon.com. But obviously there's no way I'm clicking on them.

Any thoughts on how the scam is supposed to work?

 

[Cmaier]

I just got two... hotels.com and Mastercard gift cards. At 8:28pm. I checked my purchase history and no transactions.

So how is this scam supposed to work? If I control-hover over the links they appear to go to amazon.com. But obviously there's no way I'm clicking on them.

Any thoughts on how the scam is supposed to work?

These are real mails. No scam here. Just a glitch in amazon’s systems. If you log into Amazon and go to the message center, you will see the same messages.

The emails are supposed to go out to people who really buy gift cards. The idea is to warn people that many scams rely on trying to convince you to send payment to someone by buying giftcards. So if you buy a gift card, amazon is trying to say “hey, if the IRS [or whoever] called and told you that you need to pay them right now with a gift card or get arrested, it’s a scam.”

 

[Citysnaps]

These are real mails. No scam here. Just a glitch in amazon’s systems. If you log into Amazon and go to the message center, you will see the same messages.

The emails are supposed to go out to people who really buy gift cards. The idea is to warn people that many scams rely on trying to convince you to send payment to someone by buying giftcards. So if you buy a gift card, amazon is trying to say “hey, if the IRS [or whoever] called and told you that you need to pay them right now with a gift card or get arrested, it’s a scam.”

I get it now - thanx. Weird. As I have never purchased a gift card on Amazon.

 

[Cmaier]

I get it now - thanx. Weird. As I have never purchased a gift card on Amazon.

Most of us who got the emails never bought gift cards, looks like. That’s what‘s creating such havoc.

 

[Citysnaps]

Most of us who got the emails never bought gift cards, looks like. That’s what‘s creating such havoc.

Yeah...it was driving me nuts for awhile. Believing it had to be a scam, and trying to figure out the mechanism.

It had me going.