And again criminals are trying to get personal data through phishing on behalf of the Amazon company!

Note: Amazon has nothing to do with this phishing attack. You have become a victim yourself when criminals misuse the company name for fraud purposes!

At the moment, more and more Internet users are finding an alleged email from Amazon in their inbox with the subject:

“EU GDPR – verification of your account details necessary”

But be careful ! This is a phishing attempt !

This is what the email that is supposed to trap users looks like:

image
Image in plain text:

Dear customer,

Due to the EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR), which has been in force since May 25, 2018

Amazon Europe Inc is legally obliged to check the information provided by our customers and verify its truthfulness.

Paragraph 9 of the said General Data Protection Regulation states that all internationally operating corporations must make their contribution to combating terrorist financing and money laundering.

Follow the security link and begin the process.
The accuracy of your information is essential. If our verification team detects discrepancies with the data you have provided, we will be forced to block your account until your identity has been completely verified.

Continue on the secure server)

Please note: Until you have verified your account, no further orders are possible. The verification is a one-off process; once the process has been successfully completed, you can shop as usual.

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Amazon Germany

Experienced eyes will immediately recognize that this must be a fake. Even if the text was written in perfect German, the sender address and the lack of a personal greeting from the customer are very dubious. The user is put under pressure by threatening consequences.

If you follow the link, good antivirus protection you and point out a suspicious website.

If you look closely, you can also see that the address of the website contains a special character (ạ) and therefore cannot be the original! Anyone who then enters their data using a fake Amazon input mask is playing directly into the hands of the fraudsters.

The consumer advice center has also been warning about this email since June 7, 2018.

How do I react to phishing?

Phishing emails generally try to appear as if they come from the relevant company . Fraudsters use these to try to get personal data, preferably credit cards or other payment details.

Protection software is helpful! With updated databases and appropriate heuristics, malicious sites are often blocked. We use Kaspersky protection software .

The real “art” of these emails is the story with which the recipient is supposed to trust the email and open the inserted link. Expression, grammar and spelling, as well as plausibility and individuality play a very important role here. Especially in the recent past, there have been an increasing number of emails that shined with individuality: they could address the recipient with the correct name and also provide actual address and personal data.

However, you can generally note: Banks, payment and purchase portals never ask you to log in to the account using a built-in link! In addition, although a generic salutation is always an indication of phishing, an existing correct salutation is not proof of the authenticity of an email .

Tip on your smartphone: press and hold a link until a dialog window opens with the link preview. This shows where an embedded link should lead.

Never log in via a link that is sent by email, but always type the relevant page by hand into the address bar of your browser and log in there. If there are actually announcements for the relevant service, they will be displayed there. In addition, if possible, you should also refrain from conducting banking transactions via public/third-party Wi-Fi networks , as you never know exactly whether (and in an emergency, by whom) these networks are being logged.

Never enter real data in the form fields! Under certain circumstances, the data can even while typing without having to confirm with “continue”.


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