You're staring at an email that says it's from Amazon. Maybe it's telling you there's a problem with your order, or that your account has been locked, or that your Prime membership is about to renew at some outrageous price.
Your gut says something's off. Good — trust that instinct. Let's figure this out together.
First: Check the sender address (this catches 90% of fakes)
This is the single fastest way to spot a fake. Look at the actual email address, not just the display name. Anyone can set their display name to "Amazon.co.uk" — it's the bit after the @ that matters.
Legitimate Amazon sender addresses:
@amazon.co.uk@amazon.com@email.amazon.co.uk@email.amazon.com@marketplace.amazon.co.uk@payments.amazon.co.uk@shipping.amazon.co.uk
Common fake addresses you'll see in scam emails:
@amazon-security.com❌@amazon-delivery-update.com❌@amazn.com❌@amazon.com.account-alert.xyz❌@amaz0n.co.uk(zero instead of 'o') ❌@amazon-support.net❌@amazonprime-renewal.com❌
The trick to watch for: Scammers love putting "amazon" somewhere in a longer domain. The address [email protected] is legitimate. The address [email protected] is absolutely not — the actual domain there is verify-account.ru.
The 5 most common Amazon scam emails
1. "There's a problem with your order" You'll get an email about an order you don't recognise, saying there's a payment issue. It wants you to "update your payment method" via a link. Real Amazon order emails include the last few digits of your payment method and specific order details. Fakes are vague.
2. "Your account has been locked/suspended" Creates panic so you'll click without thinking. The email claims suspicious activity and says you need to verify your identity immediately or lose your account. Amazon may occasionally ask you to verify your identity, but they'll never threaten immediate account deletion.
3. "Your Prime membership is renewing at £139.99" A fake renewal notice with an inflated price, hoping you'll click "Cancel Now" in a panic. The link goes to a phishing site that harvests your login credentials. Real Prime renewal emails show your actual renewal price and date.
4. "Delivery failed — confirm your address" Pretends a package couldn't be delivered and asks you to click a link to confirm your address. Often includes a fake tracking number. Real Amazon delivery updates link to amazon.co.uk/your-orders and never ask you to re-enter your address via email.
5. "You've won an Amazon gift card" Amazon doesn't randomly email people gift cards. Ever. If you didn't enter a competition, you didn't win anything.
What a REAL Amazon email looks like vs a fake
Real Amazon emails:
- Address you by your full name (the one on your account)
- Reference specific order numbers you can verify
- Never contain attachments (Amazon sends links to their own site)
- Links go to
amazon.co.ukoramazon.com(hover to check before clicking) - Have consistent, clean formatting with the Amazon logo
- Include the last few digits of your payment card
Fake Amazon emails:
- Often start with "Dear Customer" or "Dear Amazon User" or just your email address
- Contain spelling mistakes or awkward phrasing ("Your account have been suspended")
- Create extreme urgency ("You have 24 hours or your account will be permanently deleted")
- Include attachments (PDFs, Word docs — never open these)
- Links go to domains that aren't amazon.co.uk when you hover over them
- Ask you to "confirm" information Amazon already has
What Amazon will NEVER ask you to do by email
Amazon is very clear about this. They will never:
- ❌ Ask for your password by email
- ❌ Ask for your full credit card number, CVV, or PIN
- ❌ Ask you to pay via bank transfer, wire transfer, or gift cards
- ❌ Send you an attachment to open
- ❌ Ask you to install software or an app via an email link
- ❌ Ask you to call a phone number in the email to "verify" your account
- ❌ Threaten to close your account if you don't respond immediately
Your 30-second checklist — check these right now
If you're looking at a suspicious Amazon email, run through this:
✅ 1. Check the sender address. Is it from one of the legitimate domains listed above? If not, it's fake.
✅ 2. Check how they address you. Does it use your real name or a generic greeting? Generic = suspicious.
✅ 3. Hover over any links (don't click). Do they actually point to amazon.co.uk or amazon.com? If the URL looks weird, don't click.
✅ 4. Check your actual Amazon account. Open a new browser tab, go to amazon.co.uk directly (type it yourself), and check Your Orders or Your Account. If there's a real issue, it'll show up there.
✅ 5. Look for pressure tactics. Real companies don't threaten you with "act now or else." If the email is trying to panic you, that's a red flag.
Still not sure?
Go directly to amazon.co.uk (type the address yourself — never click a link from the email) and check your account. If Amazon genuinely needs something from you, you'll see a notification there.
You can also forward suspicious emails to [email protected] — Amazon's team will investigate.
