Every year, the holiday rush turns the internet into controlled chaos. People shop faster, scammers move quicker, and major platforms feel the pressure of both. In the middle of this surge, Amazon has slipped a warning into millions of inboxes, a reminder that the busiest shopping week of the year is also the moment attackers push hardest.
With over 300 million users, Amazon is a prime target whenever traffic spikes. Criminals follow the same playbook seen in recent attacks on Netflix and PayPal, using impersonation tactics to harvest personal details, payment information, and account credentials. The alert follows a recent report showing how scammers are now using browser notifications and the Matrix Push fraud platform to impersonate well-known services. Amazon’s alert lands directly in that context.
What’s changed is the reach. Social platforms, ad networks, and push notifications make it easier than ever to place convincing fakes in front of distracted shoppers. Amazon’s advice is to keep users on its official surfaces. Shoppers are urged to use only the Amazon app or website for account changes, enable two-factor authentication, adopt passkeys for logins, and ignore any request for payment or credentials through email, phone, or unknown links. These steps help reduce risk when attackers know customers are expecting updates, refunds, or deliveries.
Amazon issued a similar warning during last year’s Black Friday, and the business rationale is straightforward. Fraud spikes drive higher support workloads, refunds, and write-offs from unauthorised purchases. Spoofed ads and lookalike sites can divert traffic, skewing growth numbers during a week that heavily influences quarterly performance. Amazon’s scale helps: nudging users toward passkeys and app-first behaviour shrinks the number of exploitable entry points and lowers the potential reward for attackers.
As Cyber Week progresses, the signals to watch are operational: new in-app safety prompts, anti-phishing banners, or updated guidance if tactics shift. On the business side, any uptick in chargebacks or security incidents will likely appear in earnings updates, alongside passkey adoption rates as a measure of long-term resilience.
For now, Amazon’s message is simple: stay alert so the checkout keeps moving. Shoppers can enjoy the deals while the company keeps the traps outside its official platforms.
Amazon Black Friday is starting a week early this year
Expect price slashes from as early as November 20.
November 25, 2025
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