Your Amazon account may be hacked to leave reviews because hackers want to use it to commit review fraud. Due to the potential penalties of committing review fraud, it can be frustrating to get punished for something you didn’t do. What’s more, hackers can do more than leave fraudulent reviews on your account.
Why was your account hacked, and what can you do to keep your Amazon account secure? Read on to learn more about Amazon account hacking.
Why Do Hackers Target My Amazon Account?
One of the most common reasons hackers target your Amazon account is that your account is vulnerable. Some key areas of cybersecurity risk include using weak passwords, falling for phishing attempts, and having your device infected by malware. Using any of these methods, a hacker can likely gain access to your Amazon account and perform malicious acts.
You may get your Amazon account hacked for reviews because Amazon imposes harsh punishments for fake reviewers, which might result in account suspension and even legal action. Since these hackers don’t want to take the risk with their own accounts, they steal other people’s accounts to leave online reviews. Your account being hacked may also be part of a review-buying scheme or a review scam that involves your account leaving fake reviews on Amazon stores.
How Hackers Access Your Amazon Account and How to Protect Yourself
We’ve mentioned that hackers can access your Amazon account if it’s vulnerable. Let’s go over some ways hackers can access your Amazon account so you know how to avoid them. These tips can also apply to other e-commerce platforms and other sites you may have accounts on.
Phishing Emails
Phishing is a method where hackers send out emails posing as Amazon to get your personal data. Usually, these emails either ask for your login credentials or provide a link to a page that they claim is an official Amazon page. Once they get you on the linked page or receive your login details, they can use your information to get into your account.
These emails can sometimes be very convincing, so the key to identifying a phishing email is to be skeptical and check every single detail of the email to identify whether or not it’s actually from Amazon. Checking the sender’s email address is essential because if the address doesn’t end with “amazon.com” then chances are it’s a phishing attempt.
Data Dumps
Unfortunately, data breaches can happen, and hackers can post your login information on the Internet for anyone who can buy the data to use. This is especially dangerous if you use one password for all your accounts because once a hacker can get through to one of your accounts, they can likely get into your other ones.
User data dumps are usually out of your hands because the websites got breached. But that doesn’t mean you’re defenseless. To counter the effects of data dumps, use different passwords on your Internet accounts or password managers, and if you hear news of a data breach on a site you use, change your password immediately.
Hacked Email Accounts
Getting your Amazon account hacked can be part of the fallout of getting your email account hacked. If you don’t have other security measures, the hacker can request a password reset from Amazon to get into your account with little trouble. It’s a good idea to activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) on Amazon (and your other online accounts) to prevent hackers from gaining access to your entire online presence if they have your email.
Identifying Whether Your Account Was Hacked
One of the easiest ways to identify whether your Amazon account was hacked is to see if you can still access it. If you use the right login credentials but can’t log in, there’s a good chance you’ve been hacked.
If you can log in fine but suspect that your Amazon account has been breached, check your account details, especially your address, email, and billing information. You can also check your recent reviews and transactions for unauthorized activity. If you find a review you can’t remember writing or a transaction you’re sure you didn’t make, your account was most likely hacked.
Recovering Your Hacked Account
If your account has already been hacked, that’s not the end of the world just yet. Here’s a step-by-step guide to limiting the damage caused by these irresponsible hackers:
1. Change Your Password and Enable MFA
The first thing you should do if you can access your account is to change your password and turn MFA on. Make a password that’s hard to guess or brute-force using upper- and lower-case letters, symbols, and numbers. Using a password randomizer is a good idea to make your password even more secure.
2. Verify Your Account Details
While you weren’t looking, the hacker may have changed your account details. Go over your mailing and email addresses, phone numbers, billing details, and other information on your profile to ensure they’re correct and unchanged.
3. Look for Suspicious Transactions and Reviews
Check your order and review histories for suspicious activity. Report any unauthorized reviews or transactions to Amazon customer service to get them processed.
4. Sign Out of Amazon
Once you’ve changed your passwords, verified your details, and reported any suspicious activity, log out of Amazon on all your devices since there’s a chance that they may have accessed your account through one of them.
5. Scan Your Devices
Use antivirus software to scan your devices and eliminate any lurking malware as an extra safety measure. Once your device is clean, you’re likely safe from this hacking attempt. That said, stay vigilant to ensure you don’t get hacked again in the future.
Conclusion
Hackers may breach your account to leave fake reviews because there are penalties associated with fraudulent reviews. They steal your account to commit review fraud, so your account is punished for their irresponsible activities.
Fortunately, you can protect yourself from hackers by being vigilant on the Internet. Be skeptical of potential phishing attempts, use different passwords for your online accounts, and activate multi-factor authentication to add an extra security layer. If you get hacked, act quickly to secure your account to prevent further damage.
