My Amazon Account Was Hacked! But I Stopped The Fraud and Now I'm Stuck...

[kristenrice]

This is going to be a long story so bear with me...

Back on April 29, in the middle of the night, I received an alert on my phone from Amazon that my refund for my order had been successfully processed. I immediately knew something wasn't right because I hadn't returned anything. The only recent orders that I had placed were for toilet paper, a book for my niece and a t-shirt for my sister. The FIRST thing that I did was I immediately logged in and changed my Amazon password. While I was changing my password, I got two more text alerts in rapid succession, confirming two more returns and refunds. I looked at my account and saw that these refunds were for the orders that I had received over a week ago so the orders were neither returned nor cancelled. I also saw that someone had used my remaining gift card balance ($11.96) to purchase a $10 PlayStation e-gift card.

Then I went to my e-mail account to look for any e-mails from Amazon. Odd...nothing there. I quickly changed my e-mail password as well. Then, I looked in my e-mail settings (which I have NEVER done before...honestly, I didn't even know what they were). To my horror, someone had set it up to auto-forward e-mails from walmart.com, bestbuy.com, and amazon.com to a gmail address that I didn't recognize . I immediately deleted that setting, but I didn't think to write down the address. I was so tired (remember that I was awoken out of a sound sleep when this all started so I really wasn't thinking clearly) and then I saw that there was another "rule" set on my account. I'm not sure what the language meant, but I saw the same sender addresses as Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart so I deleted that "rule" too. It definitely appears that someone had hacked my e-mail account, but wanted to make sure I was still receiving e-mail so nothing looked "off" on my end.

Back to the Amazon issue...The crook hacked into my account and was able to claim that the three orders for the shirt, book and toilet paper (the only eligible orders) were never received and therefore qualified for a refund. He/she then requested the refund in the form of a gift card. Then, when the gift card refund codes were sent to my e-mail, he/she would see those e-mails (not me...they were re-routed!) and poof! They have instant Amazon money. The thing is, I caught the scam before they were able to get the codes! I changed my password and cleared the "rule" before the e-mails went out so I received them, not the crook.

Here's where I'm having a problem... I have called Amazon 6 times and explained to them over and over and over again what happened. I have a gift card balance of over $100 on my account. Only $11.96 of that is legitimately mine. The rest of it was obtained from refunds that were not requested by me. I have pleaded with them since APRIL to remove the excess funds from the gift card balance. They have told me each time, via phone AND e-mail, that someone from their fraud and security department will follow up with me in 3-5 days. NOBODY has contacted me. It has been almost 2 months and at this point, I just feel like they don't want their money back.

My daughter received Amazon gift cards for her birthday. I use subscribe and save each month, but after this, I do not leave a credit card on file in my account. I add it in when the charge is due, then remove it. I'd rather buy Amazon gift cards from our school and use those, but until this is cleaned up, I don't want to start confusing what is "my" money with what is "their" money, KWIM? What should I do at this point? I have made a genuine, repeated effort to get them to take their money back and they simply are not doing it. The last person I talked to told me that the balance would be adjusted in 3-5 days but that never happened. I would like to contact someone via e-mail, to keep a "paper" trail, but I can't find an appropriate e-mail address. Every time I call, I have gotten the exact same response so I really don't think calling again will do anything. What consequences could I face if I simply spent the funds? I wouldn't have done it immediately, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I have spent hours trying to resolve this. My time has to be worth something at this point so if Amazon wants to compensate me for it... Don't misunderstand, I am certainly not trying to justify keeping something that is not mine, I just don't know how to get rid of it at this point. Amazon WON'T take it back and I don't know what else to do. Any advice??

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I would make sure that you have a paper trail and send an e mail setting out the facts in as much detail as possible and ask for Amazon’s written response within 28 days. This protects you. I suspect that you will hear nothing and Amazon have merely written this off but they could claim it back from you until whatever period is the legal limitation time in your part of the world.

 

[kymom99]

Can you open a new account? Close the existing one?

 

[kristenrice]

Can you open a new account? Close the existing one?

Maybe, but I would assume that would require a new/different e-mail address and my Prime subscription would probably not transfer over. I would be OK with an "Amazon only" e-mail address, but I don't know what would happen with my Prime subscription and how that would work. It's such a PITA trying to get a hold of someone at Amazon. Each time I have called, I'm on the phone for an hour or more, getting passed off from person to person, each one in a different "department". Sometimes it's the gift card department, sometimes it's the "fraud" department, and sometimes it's just some "front line" person that answers that insists they can take care of it for me. Right now, I don't want to close or freeze my current account because I still use it quite a bit. I have at least 7 things that we subscribe to each month and we watch a lot of Prime video too so the Prime subscription is a necessity.

 

[seashoreCM]

Save and print all of the letters and correspondence so far.

I would stop communicating for the next few months but not spend the surplus disputed balance.

Put more money and/or make payments as needed and so that, pretending that the surplus disputed balance was fixed or was never there, you don't exceed your credit line (if any) with Amazon.

 

[Dakota731]

This is surprising to me. Amazon is usually so prompt and helpful with their customer service departments. My issues have always been resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. Have you tried their live chat feature? That has been a blessing when I’ve had problems.

 

[barkley]

This is surprising to me. Amazon is usually so prompt and helpful with their customer service departments. My issues have always been resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. Have you tried their live chat feature? That has been a blessing when I’ve had problems.

the added advantage with their chat feature is you can opt to send a transcript of the chat to your email for your records.

 

[afan]

Have you tried contacting someone at corporate? That's what I'd do. Even if you can find a name and mail a letter. It's what I did several years back when I had an issue with a time Warner tech and couldn't get the problem resolved. The letter fixed ot because it got it into the right hands. I didn't send it to the ceo but found the manager or vp of the dept that made the most sense.

 

[gwynne]

I've had a few issues over the years w Amazon (not fraud.)
As soon as I realize there is a problem I go straight to Amazon chat. They do a great job of promptly resolving the issue.

 

[kristenrice]

Well, I tried the chat feature. I explained everything that happened and basically begged them to take their money back. Here's the response I received...

"I'll need to transfer that question and your information to an account specialist via e-mail. Unfortunately they don't have phone support. You can expect an e-mail response from them within the next 1-2 business days. And I have escalated it to my managerial as well that you contacted about this to prevent further errors on your future orders. Rest assured that you will be taken care of and Amazon has your back. "

It's exactly the same thing that they have been saying for the past 2 months so I expect this will again go nowhere.

 

[wendow]

We've shopped so much with Amazon and been Prime members for 13 years. I think they are great with high level issues...best CS in the biz...but man, of man, you get into anything the least bit 'not on the level' and they truly don't know what to do with it.
I'm also honest to a fault. I do not believe in taking something that doesn't belong to me...HOWever...there comes a time and place where the line in the sand is drawn. You've done your part but they've not done theirs. Amazon has let you down here. In those instances, I just move on with life. Spend the credit but be prepared that Amazon could come back on you and expect you to pay the difference. Can you accept that deal? It seems we are talking $100+'ish that you might would need to repay?? Certainly not earth shattering. I'd spend it and move on. If Amazon finally gets their act together and wants that money paid back, then you can show them all the ways you tried to give it back. In the end, the simplest and most honest answer may be to simply give them what is theirs.

 

[Wakey]

Use two stage authentication, then they can’t hack it unless they have your phone or device that accesses it. It’s an option on Amazon.

 

[wendow]

Use two stage authentication, then they can’t hack it unless they have your phone or device that accesses it. It’s an option on Amazon.

We use this as well. My dh is an IT guy so he is the one in charge of all this kind of thing. Yes, he likes the 2-step authentication as well.

 

[ambgoph]

Contact corporate through jeff@amazon.com.

I had an issue that customer service couldn't resolve since it didn't fall into their "script". Within a couple of hours of sending that email, an executive level customer service representative called me and was able to help.

 

[kristenrice]

Use two stage authentication, then they can’t hack it unless they have your phone or device that accesses it. It’s an option on Amazon.

We use this as well. My dh is an IT guy so he is the one in charge of all this kind of thing. Yes, he likes the 2-step authentication as well.

I didn't even know about this option until after I was hacked. I now have it enabled on my account so I should be all set.

Contact corporate through jeff@amazon.com.

I had an issue that customer service couldn't resolve since it didn't fall into their "script". Within a couple of hours of sending that email, an executive level customer service representative called me and was able to help.

Thank you for that address. I also received this one buyer-vcac@amazon.com from the chat person and he said that is the department that deals with fraud. The weird thing is that *I* didn't really get defrauded...Amazon did! I guess technically, I had $10 stolen from me, but I'm not concerned about that. Amazon had over $100 stolen from them and I am trying to give it back. It's just so weird that *I* have to jump through so many hoops and cut through so much red tape just to try and return the money that someone else stole from them.

 

[DietCoke18]

Tweet them. They don’t like negative stuff out there and they will probably fix it ASAP

 

[mjkacmom]

BTDT, lost s $500 amazon gift card. Change your email password ASAP if not done already. It took us 4 months and about 50 hours on the phone, but I got my account and money back. The worst part is that amazon does assign a ticket number for fraud issues, I had to start from the beginning each time, and some cs agents were better than others. Only a handful got back to us in 3 days, but we did make slow progress (although some didn’t mention filling out that form to send to the fraud department). I finally ended up creating a new account for the free month trail, and at the end of the saga, they merged it. Amazon never actually told me when it was fixed, I just happened to notice it on my app, and then I called and they got my $500 gc back by refunding me for my last orders. It was absolutely the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced, especially from amazon, whose cs is always amazing. So don’t give up!

 

[barkley]

I called and they got my $500 gc back by refunding me for my last orders

that seems to be the default solution for every issue with amazon. the times we've had issues that entailed a refund instead of doing it in a seemingly logical accounting manner they just start going through my order history and refunding on items they know i'm not going to/beyond the time period for returns on until they hit the correct dollar amount.

 

[kristenrice]

that seems to be the default solution for every issue with amazon. the times we've had issues that entailed a refund instead of doing it in a seemingly logical accounting manner they just start going through my order history and refunding on items they know i'm not going to/beyond the time period for returns on until they hit the correct dollar amount.

....and that's what happened with my account. A refund in the form of a gift card was issued for toilet paper (who returns toilet paper!?) and two items that were shipped to a different address. Now that I have my subscription items set to ship, I got an e-mail from Amazon that says that they noticed that I filed a "claim" saying I didn't receive items in the past so they want me to confirm my address. That just irritated me all the more because I have been telling them over and over that I *DID* receive the items and the claim was NOT a legitimate claim and needs to be voided.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You could load gift cards to the account as you use them keeping the balance of gift cards approx at the amount they need to claw back in case they ever get around to it. After your Prime membership is up I would set up a new account under a new email and essentially let the other one go dormant.

Alternatively you can YOLO and spend it and they can bill you for it if they want it back but if that makes you feel bad or scared don’t do it. Personally I think you’ve done more than you need to do and if Amazon doesn’t want their money back you certainly don’t need to take time out of your days anymore to try to force them to. Only you can decide if you want to spend it or not. (And no, they aren’t going to compensate you for your time in this disaster. Your time is worth $0 to them.)