A message saying your Amazon account was hacked is often the scam itself. Checking in the Amazon app first can protect your card, gift balance and phone.
A text, email or call that says your Amazon account was hacked is more likely to be a trap than a warning. Scammers use the fear of a stolen account to get you to call a number, read out a code or give them control of your device. Real takeovers also happen, so the safe move is to check the account yourself before you respond.
Two different situations get described with the same words. In one, someone really signed in as you. In the other, you only got a message saying so, and nothing is wrong yet. The second is very often a scam.
Amazon says it began takedowns of more than 70,000 phishing websites and 14,000 phone numbers used for impersonation in 2025. Phishing means a fake page or message built to steal your login. The FTC has also named Amazon the most impersonated business in its 2021 data spotlight.
The script is well known. A message says an expensive item, often a phone or computer, was ordered on your account. It gives a number to cancel. The person who answers sounds helpful and says you were hacked. Then come the asks:
Each one hands the scammer what they want. The FTC says nobody legitimate will ask you to pay with gift cards. Amazon says it will not ask you to verify sensitive personal information or offer a refund you did not expect.
Anyone with an Amazon account on iPhone, Android or a computer. The risk is higher if you reuse passwords or keep a card saved. Real takeovers most often start with a password that leaked from another site, a phishing page, or a thief getting into the email account behind Amazon. Malware on a phone or computer and phone calls that talk you into handing over a code are other routes.
If you open the Amazon app yourself and see no orders you did not place, and no odd messages, the alert was almost certainly the scam. Delete it. Nothing in the material suggests the account itself was touched in that case.
The steps in the alert box above cover both cases, including the order to follow if someone did get in. The key point is that the fix starts with your email, not with Amazon.
Fake pages and numbers keep appearing, even as Amazon takes them down. No reports from affected users have been collected for this topic yet, and details are still limited. Expect more messages with urgent wording, and treat any that push you to act fast as a reason to slow down and check.
If a message says your Amazon account was hacked, ignore its link and number, and open the Amazon app yourself to check.
The Attala County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi says scam calls are reaching residents, and a call that sounds official may not be.
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Read more: Fake jury duty calls spoof a real Texas sheriff's phone numberFake PayPal emails and texts, some posing as a security report, try to get you to tap a link and type your login. Checking your account directly avoids the trap.
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