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Amazon routes 360,000 annual scam inquiries through a new Alexa verification tool

9/9/2026

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.