Prime Day cybersecurity risks grow to worrying levels

In the United States, Cyber Security Awareness Month is in October. So is Amazon’s Big Heckin’ Two-Day Prime Day. The two overlap!

Here in the UK, my ISP (burn their eyes) even emailed a warning about how to protect yourself from cyber scams.

However, are people still not getting it? Or is it that we can’t blink without another attempt landing in our inbox?

Recent research from Check Point Research (CPR) (PDF link) has revealed a surge in the registration of Amazon-related internet domains. Over the past month, more than 1,000 such domains have been created, with a concerning 88% flagged as potentially malicious or suspicious.

This trend coincides with a rise in Amazon-themed scam emails. Check Point’s Harmony Email service has intercepted over 100 unique scam emails within two weeks, targeting individuals and organisations. These scams often involve fabricated account issues or urgent requests for payment information. Scammers have sometimes directly contacted Amazon Prime members with these fraudulent claims.

CPR also has a stay safe guide that is ready to read.

Domain surge: Over 1,000 new Amazon-related domains registered in the last 30 days, with 88% classified as malicious or suspicious.
Prime focus: 1 in 54 new domains include “Amazon Prime,” potentially for phishing attacks.
Email scams: Over 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails have been blocked in the past two weeks.
Direct attacks: Scammers cold-call Prime members with fake account issues to steal payment details.

Another guide from TrendMicro is also worth knowing. Sadly, they’ve dropped their retail solutions but still have free trials and a tier for small businesses.

It’s worth noting that the weakness here is phishing and fraud, which is not entirely what VPNs like Proton or Nord protect against. VPNs don’t seem to be in fashion right now.

I’m no cybersec expert, but I’ll still take this chance to call out Mozilla’s FakeSpot as worth knowing about. If nothing less, it can help you spot dodgy retailers on Amazon. That’s right; the extension messes with the Amazon GUI by inserting its seller warnings straight into the webpage.