360,000 customers contact Amazon customer service each year asking whether a message they received actually came from the company, per Amazon's own figures. That inquiry volume is the stated rationale for a verification feature now built into Alexa for Shopping, the company's AI shopping assistant, available to U.S. customers without a Prime membership requirement.
How the check works
The feature accepts descriptions of suspicious emails, texts, phone calls, and other messages. A customer tells Alexa for Shopping where a communication came from, when it arrived, and what it said. Amazon then compares those details against its own records, checking sender information, message content, timing, and formatting. Because the company is comparing submissions against communications its own systems generated, the method differs from tools that scan only for suspicious wording or flagged links.
Three outcomes are possible. When Amazon can match a submission to its records with complete confidence, Alexa for Shopping confirms the communication was real and can provide account security guidance. When no match is found, the assistant tells the customer the message does not appear to correspond to an official Amazon communication and advises checking orders directly through the app or website. When the tool cannot reach a firm answer, Amazon directs the customer to submit additional details or use a separate channel.
Those channels include [email protected], launched earlier this year and open to anyone worldwide without an Amazon account, and a verification form accessible through Amazon's customer service pages.
Automatic reporting and standing policies
Every verification request submitted through Alexa for Shopping is automatically forwarded to Amazon's customer protection and enforcement team. Amazon says those submissions help identify developing scam campaigns and bad actors impersonating the company.
For broader reporting, Amazon has partnered with the Better Business Bureau. U.S. consumers can search bbb.org/scamtracker by email address or phone number for reports tied to suspicious communications. Amazon cautions that an absence of existing reports does not mean a message is safe, since new scams can surface before anyone files one.
The company warns on two points that apply regardless of which channel customers use: it will never ask anyone to purchase a gift card to resolve an account problem, and it will never ask for a password or one-time passcode by phone.