Beware of opportunities promoting an “Amazon Token” pre-sale

ByCraig Haley

A series of fake social media adverts are claiming that online retail giant Amazon have started to sell its own version of crypto-currency called the Amazon Token. The adverts urge readers to invest in Amazon Tokens during a “presale”.

SCAM
Type of Scam: Get-Rick-Quick, Work-From-Home scam
Attack Type: Fake crypto-currency investment offer
Social Engineering Technique: Claiming investment is endorsed/operated by reputable entity

Users should always be extremely sceptical of adverts and websites promoting products related to crypto-currency since this is a niche often exploited by cyber-criminals looking to cash-in on people’s inexperience within the complex world of crypto-currencies.

One such popular crypto-currency themed scheme is the fake investment scam whereby crooks promote a fake crypto-currency by claiming it is operated or endorsed by famous companies or businesspeople. In this case they claim it is operated and owned by Amazon, and the aim of the scam is to lure victims into purchasing the fake crypto-currency with genuine crypto-currency.

An example advert using the image of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Upon clicking through the adverts (and fake news media articles) victims are told to create an account. Upon completion victims are then prompted to pay for Amazon Tokens using their own crypto-currency wallets such as Bitcoin.


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However since Amazon Tokens are fake and the website and adverts have nothing to do with Amazon, it is likely that any crypto-currency sent to the crooks behind this operation is simply stolen, with nothing sent in return.

Crooks are always trying to lure victims towards fake crypto-currency investments and will use well-known companies and people to make those schemes appear more convincing.

If you are inexperienced with crypto-currency, the best way to avoid these types of scams is to only receive advice from entities that you trust to provide sound financial advice. Don’t invest in such opportunities by yourself, and always perform due diligence to ensure you are not being scammed. In this case a cursory Internet search is sufficient to determine that there is no such thing as “Amazon Tokens”, and that at the time of writing, Amazon offers no crypto-currency (or crypto-currency themed) investment opportunities.