In the most recent scam reported this holiday season and caught on record in a call sent to KHTS, robocallers are exploiting one of the largest retail giants in America: Amazon. 

With shoppers kicking off their holiday shopping sprees, verified Amazon representatives are warning the public of a series of robocall scams reported across the country. 

The robo-scam starts off with an automated message, informing the victim that there has been suspicious activity on their Amazon account –typically a fraudulent purchase– in an attempt to cause panic, according to officials. 

When the victim asks to be transferred to a spokesperson, they are informed of the details behind the suspicious purchase, a purchase that has not been authorized by them.

The spokesperson, posing as an Amazon representative, then pretends to offer guidance, even asking “have you shared your personal information with anyone recently?” 

The Amazon impersonator then proceeds to ask for the victim’s personal information –enough to steal the victim’s money and even identity– under the guise of “resolving” the issue. 

Amber May, a voice actress known for her work in animation and children’s entertainment,  is just one of those potential victims who have directly reached out to Amazon after receiving a suspicious call under the same circumstances. 

See Related: Santa Clarita Residents Warned To Keep An Eye Out For Immigration Fraud, Scams

“I just got a call from a fraud number from ‘Amazon’ that sounded very real and it actually threw me off guard for a second,” May said. “The automated message said that a fraudulent purchase had been made on my Amazon account for an iPhone by someone in Baltimore, so I was transferred to a representative to handle it.”

May had grown suspicious of the conversation when the “representative” began to ask how they could refund the price of the iPhone back into her account. 

“My gut said hang up and give Amazon a call myself since it involved my bank,” May said. “Sure enough, Amazon said it was fraud and they’d been getting a lot of reports about this lately.”

Verified Amazon representatives confirmed that although some departments may make outbound calls to customers, they are told to never ask someone to disclose or verify their Amazon.com password, credit card or banking account number over the phone, according to Amazon. 

“Such information should only be submitted when completing an order on Amazon.com, registering to sell on Amazon, contacting Amazon.com directly, or when making updates to Your Account or Seller Account areas,” read a statement from Amazon in response to the incident. 

To report a suspicious call, click here or call (866) 216-1075 to report the incident immediately.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.