Faking Amazon refunds for PII and more

Fraudsters always find new ways to steal PII and money. This time, they’re sending customers to fake websites for fake Amazon refunds and putting a 21st century twist on a classic jury duty scheme. Plus, the FBI cautions that identity thieves are revictimizing people by posing as lawyers offering to recover funds for crypto investment scheme victims.

Maddy Smith received a text message from an Amazon employee explaining how she could get a full refund on an item she’d recently purchased. All she had to do was click on the link to the website in the message and enter her bank routing number. She followed the Amazon employee’s instructions and supplied her bank information for the refund. But a few days later, her bank informed her that a check she’d written had bounced. That’s when she learned that a fraudster had used her routing number to drain her bank account. She never got a refund from Amazon.

This case is fictitious, but it represents a very real scam — the Amazon refund scheme.

Inside the Amazon refund scam

It’s customary to return an item to a retailer if you’re unhappy with your purchase. Fraudsters know this and take advantage of the situation to bilk you out of your personally identifiable information (PII) and money. In July 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued an alert warning customers of a new phishing scheme in which fraudsters pose as Amazon employees offering customers full refunds on recent purchases.

In this scam, fraudsters send text messages to Amazon customers about a problem with an item they’ve purchased. The messages might alert customers to a “routine quality inspection” that determined an item didn’t meet Amazon’s standards or the product was recalled by the manufacturer. The message explains that the customer doesn’t need to return the item, but if they click on a link to a website and request a refund there, they can get their money back. But the refund never materializes; it’s a ruse to steal money directly from the victim’s bank account.

The FTC provides the following advice to avoid becoming a victim of an Amazon refund scam:

• Don’t respond to or click on links in unexpected texts. If you think the message is legitimate, contact the retailer with a phone number, email or website that you know is real. Don’t use any contact information from the text.
• Log in to your Amazon account directly through the website or app to check your recent orders to determine if there’s problem with a purchase.
• Send unwanted texts to 7726 (SPAM) or use your phone’s “report junk” option. Delete the message once you’ve reported it.

You didn’t forget jury duty — it’s a scam

In a traditional jury duty scam, a fraudster poses as a law enforcement officer to call an unsuspecting victim with a terrifying message: You missed jury duty and now you owe a fine or face arrest. The FTC reported in August 2025 that fraudsters have put a new spin on the scheme, but the goal is the same: stealing your identity and your money. According to the FTC, fraudsters are now using fake websites to con people into thinking they haven’t fulfilled their civic duty. Thieves still pose as law enforcement officials and threaten individuals with arrest if they don’t pay the fine; the latest twist is that criminals instruct “jurors” to visit a website to determine their fine. The website looks legit, complete with an official-looking government seal. Once the “juror” visits the site, they’re asked to enter their birth date and government identification number to see their fine. Victims may learn that they owe thousands in fines or be directed to a “government kiosk” to pay the fine in cryptocurrency.

Here’s some advice from the FTC about preventing jury duty schemes:

• Hang up the phone if the caller threatens you with arrest, even if your caller ID indicates the number is from your local police department (criminals can spoof those numbers). Police officers won’t call you to tell you that you’re about to be arrested.
• Don’t pay — governments won’t make you pay a fine with gift cards, a payment app, cryptocurrency, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.
• Check directly with the court if you do get a call about jury duty and want to confirm that it’s real. Go to the court’s website or call it directly with a number you know to be correct to verify your jury duty status.
• Report the scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The scam that keeps scamming

For victims of cryptocurrency investment schemes, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that the fraud continues. According to the IC3, fraudsters masquerade as lawyers from fictitious law firms and offer to recover lost funds for cryptocurrency investment scheme victims. They never recover those funds, but they do take victims’ PII and money.

The faux attorneys generally target older adults on social media and other messaging websites and claim they’re working with or have received information about the victim’s case from the FBI, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or other government agency. Victims are vulnerable to the scheme as they’re grappling with the emotional aftermath and financial devastation that comes with being defrauded.

To further this recovery scheme, the “lawyers” might:

• Ask victims to provide PII or banking information to “verify” their information.
• Request the judgment amount that victims are seeking from the initial crypto fraud.
• Have victims pay a portion of a fee up front with a balance that will be due when the funds are “recovered.”
• Direct victims to pay back taxes and other fees to recover their funds.
• Reference actual financial institutions and money exchanges to make them seem credible.

An August 2025 public service announcement from the IC3 provides additional red flags of this scheme and measures people can take to avoid being revictimized by a fictitious law firm funds recovery scheme. Those additional red flags include:

• Using the names of actual lawyers or legitimate law firms.
• Saying they’re official authorized partners of governmental or regulatory agencies. Law firms in the U.S. aren’t authorized partners of U.S. government agencies.
• Referring to a fictitious government or regulatory entity, such as the International Financial Trading Commission. Always verify that an agency exists.
• Requesting payment in cryptocurrency or prepaid gift cards.
• Having knowledge of the exact amounts and dates of previous wire transfers and the third-party company where the victim previously sent scammed funds.
• Saying the victim was on a government-affiliated list of scam victims and they can recover their money through “legal channels.”
• Referring victims to a “crypto-recovery law firm.”
• Telling the victim their funds are in an account held in a foreign bank and instructing them to set up an account at that bank. The bank’s website appears legitimate but it’s a fake site that’s set up to facilitate the scheme.
• Adding victims to group chats on messaging apps like WhatsApp with foreign bank processors or attorneys who may request bank fees to verify victims’ identities to withdraw funds.
• Refusing to provide credentials or a license to verify that they’re actual lawyers. They may also refuse to appear on camera or avoid video meetings.
• Requesting that victims send payments to a third-party entity to maintain secrecy and safety.

The IC3 advises that cryptocurrency fraud victims employ a zero-trust policy and assume that any call or offer to recover funds is a scheme until the request is verified. Victims should be cautious of any law firm that contacts them unexpectedly, especially if they haven’t reported the crime to any law enforcement. Additional prevention measures include:

• Requesting video verification, documentation or a photo of a caller’s law license. Assume the caller is a fraudster if they refuse to produce credentials.
• Verifying the employment of anyone claiming to work for the government or law enforcement.
• Keeping records of all interactions.
• Requiring notarized proof of identity from lawyers before continuing communications and transactions.
• Reporting any suspicious correspondence to the FBI’s IC3 at www.ic3.gov.

I’m here to help.

Please use this information in your outreach programs and among your family members, friends, and co-workers.

As part of my outreach program, please contact me if you have any questions on identity theft or cyber-related issues that you need help with or if you’d like me to research a scam and possibly include details in future columns or as feature articles.

I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll do my best to help. I might not get back to you immediately, but I’ll reply. Stay tuned!

Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE, is a distinguished emeritus professor of accounting and research at Central Washington University. He serves on the ACFE Advisory Council, the ACFE Editorial Advisory Committee and the ACFE’s inaugural CFE Exam Content Development Committee. In 2005 he received the ACFE’s Outstanding Achievement in Accounting award and the ACFE’s Educator of the Year award in 2006. Holtfreter was the recipient of the Hubbard Award for the best Fraud Magazine feature article in 2016. Contact him at doctorh007@gmail.com.