Amazon scammers hitting Loudoun County residents, cops say

WASHINGTON - The Loudoun County sheriff’s office says it’s receiving multiple complaints from residents in a number of communities about Amazon scam calls.

Most recently, they received one report on Monday, and two on Friday.

They say the complaints came from residents in Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling – and each scammer tried different tactics.

The victim in Ashburn took a call from someone who claimed to be a customer service representative, who said her account had been hacked and she needed to download special software to her phone that enabled the crook to access her bank account information.

The Leesburg victim told investigators she received an email from someone purporting to be from Amazon, who said her account had been compromised. The email instructed her to call a phone number, and someone told her she needed to buy gift cards to settle the account. She also had to provide the information to the scammer.

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In Sterling, the scammer called a phone number that she thought was Amazon, and the person on the other end said he was from the company. However, he instructed her to buy gift cards and provide him with the information to "clear her account," and she gave it to him.

The FTC and the BBB both have information you can use to avoid potential scams.