The online retail and streaming giant alerted shoppers to be wary of texts claiming to be from the company. In the message recipients are prompted to click a link to confirm or cancel a change in their account.

Another ploy to steal private information from customers comes through a text, email or phone call, where Amazon customers are urged to verify their Prime account.

The business, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, faced a similar problem in 2020, when hundreds of Prime members fell victim to a Prime scam which saw them lose out on a combined £1m in just three months.

Back then, customers received an automated call telling them they’d been charged for a subscription or that they’re eligible for a refund following an unauthorised transaction. As they tried to cancel or obtain a refund, they were put through to a scammer posing as an Amazon representative where they were told to download an app which unwittingly allowed the fraudsters to spy on the victim’s banking activity.

‘Report suspected scams’

Following the new wave of privacy data crimes, Amazon said: “These are unexpected calls/texts/emails that refer to a costly membership fee or an issue with your membership and ask you to confirm or cancel the charge.

“These scammers try to convince you to provide payment or bank account information in order to reinstate a membership.

“Visit the message centre on Amazon.co.uk or on the app to review authentic emails from Amazon. To verify your Prime membership status or make payments, log into your Amazon account, and go to Your Account.”

The battle to thwart stolen personal data continues and an Amazon spokesperson told YourMoney.com: “Scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon put consumers at risk. We continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance.

“We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.

“Please visit our help pages to find additional information on how to identify scams and report them at amazon.com/ReportAScam.”

Prime membership rose to £8.99 a month last year (annual cost increased from £79 to £95), but account changes like that will never be communicated via text message or phone call, Amazon confirmed.