Amazon adds scam checking to Alexa for Shopping messages

In short: Amazon is adding a feature to Alexa for Shopping that can help customers check if a message that looks like it is from Amazon is actually a scam.

What happened

Amazon announced a new scam-detection feature for Alexa for Shopping, its shopping helper inside the Amazon app and website. The company says about 360,000 customers each year contact Amazon support to ask whether a message they received is real.

With the update, people can ask Alexa for Shopping to verify suspicious emails, texts, and other messages that claim to be from Amazon. Amazon says the system can confirm whether a message came from Amazon by comparing it with the billions of real messages Amazon has sent.

Amazon says it looks at details like who the message appears to be from, what it says, when it was sent, and other behind-the-scenes information called metadata (extra data about a message, like the label on a package). Amazon also says the system should get better over time as customers report more suspicious messages.

This feature builds on earlier tools Amazon has offered. Earlier this year, Amazon created an email address, verify@amazon.com, where people can forward suspicious messages and get a reply about whether they are real. Amazon also offers an online form for similar checks.

Why it matters

Scams that pretend to be from Amazon often try to push people into paying money, sharing passwords, or clicking dangerous links, sometimes using fake order notices or account warnings. A built-in checker could make it easier for shoppers to pause and confirm before they act, like calling the official number on the back of your card instead of the one in a suspicious text.

Source: TechCrunch AI