The Better Business Bureau has a warning about a very slick new Amazon scam.
One man just fell for it, and now wants to warn others.
Consumer reporter John Matarese shows what to watch for, so you don't waste your money.
How would you like to win a prize from Amazon, like maybe a free pair of Apple AirPods?
Unfortunately, it's a scam. And an expensive one as one man just learned.
Brian Hunt buys electronics from Amazon.
It's not surprising he was excited to receive a text saying "congratulations Brian, you came in second place" in a recent Amazon raffle.
"I received a text message that I thought was from Amazon, telling me there was a giveaway, a sweepstakes," he said. "I was going to get a free pair of AirPods, all I had to do was pay for shipping."
The link went to a page that looked like Amazon and asked for a credit card for shipping.
"Indeed they were only asking for the shipping fee, which I think was $6."
But a few days later he received these cheap imitation apple air pods, followed by a $100 charge.
"They charged me $6 for shipping, but then it was $99.50 a couple of days later," he said.
The Better Business Bureau now is issuing a warning about this Amazon text scam after hundreds of recent complaints nationwide.
"These sweepstakes and lottery scams, they use text messages, phone calls, social media, even email to sell the scam," said the BBB's Sara Kemerer, who adds that Amazon is not holding any sweepstakes or raffle.
Rather, this is designed to get money or worse.
"These people will just charge to your bank account and ultimately it can lead to identity theft," she said.
Hunt is not sure how they got his name and cell number and wishes he had asked some questions first.
"Obviously, it had nothing to do with Amazon," he said.
Remember: if you win a sweepstakes, you win.
But never give a credit or debit card, so you don’t waste your money.
