HOUSTON — The rise of artificial intelligence has a new threat lurking in the shadows. Now, they're targeting Amazon customers.
The bad news is that the scams are only expected to get worse. The good news is that there are still things you can do to prevent wasting your money.
Kimberly Moore was hit by one of the Amazon scams after a frightening computer-generated call said her credit card was hit for hundreds of dollars unless she spoke with an agent.
"It was a very specific amount for a purchase I made," Moore said.
The second scam comes from a fake email. It targeted Lisa Wang who owns a wellness salon.
"It said you have a big order of $6,000," Wang said.
Brian Hunt was hit with the third scam that came from a text message, which is the newer version of the email.
"There was a giveaway," Hunt said. "A sweepstakes telling me I won these earbuds."
Lastly, there's the brushing scam, which is the strangest of all. It happened to Karen Bowman during Christmas. This one features items showing up at your front door that you never ordered.
The scam's designed to get you to accept it so that the third-party seller gets a higher ranking on Amazon.
The A.I. generated scams are just getting started and will only get worse. Experts say it's because A.I. helps the scammer create more convincing calls and emails.
Amazon says if it needs to reach you, it will email you personally with your name, especially if there's an account issue. So be suspicious of all messages from Amazon, that way you don't waste your money.