(WSYM) — The Better Business Bureau has a warning about a very slick new Amazon scam. One man fell for it, and now is warning others.
Brian Hunt buys electronics from Amazon, so he was excited when he got a text saying, "Congratulations Brian, you came in second place," in a recent Amazon raffle.
"I received a text message that I thought was from Amazon, telling me there was a giveaway, a sweepstakes. I was going to get a free pair of AirPods, all I had to do was pay for shipping," Hunt said.
The link went to a page that looked like Amazon and asked for a credit card for shipping.
"They were only asking for the shipping fee, which I think was $6," he said.
A few days later, he received cheap imitation Apple AirPods followed by a $100 charge.
"They charged me $6 for shipping, but then it was $99.50 a couple of days later," he said.
The BBB is now issuing a warning after hundreds of recent complaints nationwide.
"These sweepstakes and lottery scams, they use text messages, phone calls, social media, even email to sell the scam," the BBB said.
The organization is reminding people that Amazon is not holding any sweepstakes or raffle, and this is just designed to get money, or worse, try to steal your identity.
Remember, if you win a sweepstakes, never give a credit or debit card number.
