STEVE KENDER: Beware of predators using ‘Google scam’

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

Please be aware of this new scammer twist. I looked up Amazon Prime on the internet (I’m a member), to find out why a couple of my recent orders were late. Yes, I was surprised to find a “blue” link phone number to call. Amazon doesn’t usually make phone contact easy.

The person answering told me that my orders had been sent to other people because apparently my account was hacked and my credit card number ending in xxxx (they correctly identified the last 4 digits) was used to pay the bill. He told me that because of all the suspicious activity on my account, it was necessary for them to take more security measures.

I asked him to look at my ordering record for the last two months. He read off three or four orders correctly, giving me more confidence that he was legit. He then asked me for my “code,” and I asked him what he meant. “Your code,” he repeated, and, again suspicious, I asked, “What security information do you need to correctly ID me? You know I’m a prime member, and you have a record of my orders. You have my phone number and my e-mail address, what else do you want?”

He told me that hackers had compromised my credit card and that they could, and probably will, charge more on my card soon. It was important that I do a couple of things to properly prove who I am in order to get the Amazon account straightened out first. I said it sounds like I needed to cancel that credit card right away. He agreed, but asked me if there was a Walgreens near me. I responded, “What the hell has that got to do with my security — please let me speak to your supervisor because this makes no sense at all to me.” Another person came on and told me they needed to verify me by confirming where I was calling from. He told me to go to Walgreens and purchase a $100 Google play card and then scratch off the back and read him the numbers revealed. He even offered to keep the call open until I gave him the numbers.

“What,” I asked, “are you crazy. Why?”

“The $100 will be refunded by Google within 30 minutes, don’t worry,” he said. I hung up after he gave me his name and phone number.

I went to my nearby Walgreens and stood in line with a $100 Google play card. I asked the cashier if she knew how the card worked. All she knew is that people buy them to play games on Google and give them as gifts. After I explained what happened on the phone with so-called “Amazon Prime,” the clerk and several people in line behind me said that sounds like a scam. I thought so too, so I put the card back and left.

I called the fake number and told the “Amazon rep” that I was sure they were trying to scam me, but just in case they really were for real, please cancel my account and hung up. The very next call was to my bank, and I asked for a replacement credit card.

Retired educator Steve Kender is a native of Butte, Mont. He taught school in Maryland, Ohio and Florida, and was the owner and CEO of four businesses before retiring. He has written for the former Baltimore News American newspaper. Kender moved from Palm Beach, Fla., to Albany in 2011.