Amazon, Microsoft team up to protect users in India from impersonation scams

Amazon announced on Friday that it has teamed up with Microsoft to protect consumers from impersonation scams in India. Announcing this, the e-commerce behemoth stated that alongwith software giant Microsoft and Central Bureau Investigation (CBI), it has has taken decisive action against perpetrators of technology support fraud. 

On Thursday, October 19, CBI had announced that it conducted multiple criminal raids in various cities spanning several states against illegal call centres in India that were set up to impersonate Microsoft and Amazon customer support.

As per Amazon's claims, the illegal call centres have impacted over 2,000 Amazon and Microsoft customers primarily based in the US, but also in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK).

This operation was supported by a joint criminal referral made by Amazon and Microsoft through joint prosecution agreements in the US and India, as the same cyber criminals were targeting both the company's customers.

“We are pleased to join forces with Microsoft, and we believe actionable partnerships like these are critical in helping protect consumers from impersonation scams,” Kathy Sheehan, vice president and associate general counsel, Business Conduct & Ethics, said in a statement.

Together, the companies are setting a precedent for the power of industry collaboration and the collective impact it can have in holding bad actors accountable.

"We will continue to work with Indian law enforcement agencies as well as authorities from countries of victims so that they can continue to act," the company said.

Amazon added that it has zero tolerance for impersonators, and through its continued commitment to protect consumers from impersonation scams, it has initiated takedowns of more than 20,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers being used as part of impersonation schemes in 2022. It also has referred hundreds of bad actors across the globe to law enforcement authorities, which have resulted in arrests and raids on scam operations.