How do I check whether an Amazon order is real?

Open the Amazon app or type amazon.com into your browser yourself, sign in, and look at Your Orders. Every genuine order, including one placed by someone who got into your account, is in your order history. Check Archived Orders too, because someone who gets into an account can archive an order to hide it from the main list. If the order isn't in either place, the message was fake. Don't use any link or number from the message to do this.

Will Amazon call me about a suspicious purchase?

Amazon says it won't ask you to make a payment or give payment information over the phone outside its website, won't ask for gift cards as payment, and won't ask you to install software so someone can access your device. If a call or message about an order asks for any of those, it isn't Amazon, whatever the caller ID says.

The caller said they refunded me too much by mistake. Should I send the difference back?

No. This is the core of the refund scam. The "refund" you see is usually money the scammer moved between your own accounts, or a number they edited on your screen while they had remote access. Nothing extra arrived. Any money you send back, by gift card, transfer, crypto or cash, is real and is yours.

I gave them remote access to my computer. What now?

Disconnect the computer from the internet and uninstall whatever they asked you to install. From a different device, change your Amazon, email and banking passwords and turn on two-step verification. Call your bank on the number on your card and tell them someone had access to your computer. Then report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

← Is This A Scam?

Fake Amazon Order Texts and Calls

Last reviewed October 14, 2026

A message says an expensive order was just placed on your account, usually a phone or a laptop, and gives a number to call if it wasn't you. There is no order. The number connects you to the scammer, and the call is where the money is lost.

This one is built on a reasonable reflex. If you see a charge you didn't make, you want to stop it, and calling the number provided feels like the quickest way. The message is designed so that the obvious next step is the dangerous one.

The same script also arrives as a phone call, often a recorded voice saying a large purchase is about to be charged and to press 1 to speak to someone. It's the same scam either way.

What one of these looks like

By text or email, it usually reads something like this:

Amazon: Your order #112-4839201-5528374 for Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (256GB) – $1,149.00 has been placed and will ship today. If you did not authorise this purchase, call Customer Support at +1 (888) 555-0182 to cancel.

The price is high enough to alarm you and the item is something easy to resell, which makes the story plausible. The order number looks right because it copies the format of real ones. The phone number is the only part that matters, and it belongs to the sender.

Red flags to look for

A phone number to call to cancel. Real order confirmations point you to Your Orders in your account, where you can cancel yourself. They don't ask you to phone a number in the message.
An order you can't find. If it isn't in Your Orders when you open the app yourself, it doesn't exist.
An expensive, easily resold item you'd never buy — a high-end phone, a laptop, a gaming console, gift cards.
An email that doesn't use your name, or comes from an address that isn't on Amazon's own domain. Many fakes come from free email accounts.
A robocall about a purchase that asks you to press a key to speak to someone. That transfers you straight to the scammer.
Urgency about shipping "today" or a charge going through "within the hour".
A link to "cancel" or "review" the order that leads to a sign-in page. A fake sign-in page collects your password.

What happens on the call

The person who answers is friendly and sounds like a support agent. They confirm the fake order, agree it looks like fraud, and offer to cancel it and process a refund. From there, the call usually goes one of a few ways:

They ask you to install an app so they can "help" — remote-access tools like AnyDesk, TeamViewer or similar. Those are legitimate programs, but in a stranger's hands they give full control of your computer.
They ask you to sign in to your bank "to receive the refund" while they watch your screen.
They ask for payment details, or for you to buy gift cards to "secure" the account or "verify" your identity.
They say your account has been compromised and transfer you to someone claiming to be from your bank or a government agency, who then asks you to move money somewhere "safe".

The refund overpayment trick

This is the move that turns a fake order into a real loss. While connected to your computer, the scammer says they've issued your refund, then gasps: they typed $11,490 instead of $114.90. Your bank balance appears to show the extra money. They sound panicked, say they'll lose their job, and ask you to send the difference back, usually in gift cards, by wire, in crypto or in cash.

No money was ever refunded. What you saw was either a transfer between your own accounts, such as savings to checking, or the page edited on your screen while they controlled it. The only real money in the whole exchange is what you send them.

What Amazon actually does

Amazon's own guidance is clear on the important points. It won't ask you to pay or share payment information outside its website or app, won't ask for gift cards as payment for anything other than buying gift cards, and won't ask you to install software to give someone access to your device. Order details, refunds and cancellations live in your account. If something is wrong with an order, you'll see it there.

That gives you a simple rule that works for any retailer: messages can tell you something happened, but you only ever act on it inside the account itself.

What to do instead

1Don't call the number, don't press 1, and don't tap the link.
2Open the Amazon app on your phone, or type amazon.com into your browser yourself, and check Your Orders. If the order isn't there, delete the message.
3If you do see an order you didn't place, cancel it from your account, change your Amazon password, and turn on two-step verification. Use Amazon's help pages, reached from inside the app or site, if you need to contact them.
4Report the message. Amazon has a page in its help center for reporting suspicious messages and calls. Forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM), and report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
5Hang up on any call about an order, even if the caller knows your name or address. Those details are easy to get. Then check your account yourself.

Got an order alert you don't recognise?

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If you already called

If you only talked and shared nothing, hang up and you're done. If anything more happened, work through this in order:

1If they had remote access, disconnect the computer from the internet straight away and uninstall the software they had you install. Restart, keep it updated, and run a scan with security software you already trust.
2Call your bank on the number on the back of your card. Tell them someone had access to your computer, and ask them to stop or recall any transfer made during the call. Ask about any card or account details you shared.
3If you bought gift cards, contact the gift card company immediately using the number on the card or its official website, and keep the cards and receipts. Report the card numbers.
4From a different device, change passwords for Amazon, your email and your bank, and turn on two-step verification. Sign out of all other sessions.
5Report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If money was lost online, also report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
6Be wary of anyone who calls afterwards offering to recover your money. That's a common second scam.

The PayPal invoice scam and fake virus pop-ups lead to the same phone call with a different opening. For the full sequence of steps after a loss, see how to report a scam.

Common questions

How do I check whether an Amazon order is real?: Open the Amazon app or type amazon.com into your browser yourself, sign in, and look at Your Orders. Every genuine order, including one placed by someone who got into your account, is in your order history. Check Archived Orders too, because someone who gets into an account can archive an order to hide it from the main list. If the order isn't in either place, the message was fake. Don't use any link or number from the message to do this.
Will Amazon call me about a suspicious purchase?: Amazon says it won't ask you to make a payment or give payment information over the phone outside its website, won't ask for gift cards as payment, and won't ask you to install software so someone can access your device. If a call or message about an order asks for any of those, it isn't Amazon, whatever the caller ID says.
The caller said they refunded me too much by mistake. Should I send the difference back?: No. This is the core of the refund scam. The "refund" you see is usually money the scammer moved between your own accounts, or a number they edited on your screen while they had remote access. Nothing extra arrived. Any money you send back, by gift card, transfer, crypto or cash, is real and is yours.
I gave them remote access to my computer. What now?: Disconnect the computer from the internet and uninstall whatever they asked you to install. From a different device, change your Amazon, email and banking passwords and turn on two-step verification. Call your bank on the number on your card and tell them someone had access to your computer. Then report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

This page is informational and we aren't affiliated with any company or agency named on it. We can't tell you whether your specific message is genuine. Verify independently: open the company's official app or type their website address yourself, and call the number printed on your card, statement, or the back of your ID — never a number supplied by the message.

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