PEEBLESSHIRE residents have been warned to not fall victim to fake emails claiming to be from a well-known online retailer.

The UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, Action Fraud have received several reports from victims who have been sent convincing looking emails claiming to be from Amazon. 

The spoofed emails from “service@amazon.co.uk” claim recipients have made an order online and mimic an automatic customer email notification. 

Reported examples of the scam email have claimed that recipients have ordered items such as an; expensive vintage chandelier, Bose stereos, iPhone’s and luxury watches. 

The emails also state that if recipients haven’t authorised the transaction they can click on the help centre link to receive a full refund.

The link then leads to an authentic-looking website, which asks victims to confirm their name, address, and bank card information.

Action Fraud have said that one victim reported entering his Nationwide banking details and later found out that £750 had been stolen from his account. 

After the victim notified his bank they cancelled the card and refunded the money in full. 

Amazon have said that suspicious e-mails will often contain links to websites that look like Amazon.co.uk, but aren't Amazon.co.uk, attachments or prompts to install software on your computer, plus typos or grammatical errors.

The scam correspondence also comes from forged or spoofed e-mail addresses which are disguised to make it look like the e-mail is coming from the  Amazon.co.uk website.

In response to the reports, Amazon have stated that they will never ask for personal information to be supplied by email.

For more information about identifying suspicious emails claiming to be from the retailer, visit: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201489210.