'A TikTok Shop fraudster hacked my Amazon account and spent £1,400'

Do you have an issue you need putting right? Which? is here to help get your consumer problems sorted.

Dear Which?,

I discovered that my Amazon account had been hacked after finding 26 unauthorised orders had been placed without my knowledge. 

All orders were for the same product and were delivered to 26 different addresses across the UK.

The customer details were on my Amazon account, so I contacted one of the recipients who confirmed that she had purchased the same product from a TikTok Shop seller the night before. She believed that she was buying the product legitimately through TikTok Shop, but what she actually received were items that were ordered fraudulently through my Amazon account.

The fraudster stole £1,418 in total. I reported it to Amazon, TikTok and my bank, Santander, who told me I would be reimbursed. However, this has not yet happened. Are you able to help?

Sarah Hartwell

Put to rights

Tali Ramsey, Which? consumer rights expert, says:

This must have been a nasty shock for you. This scam works by fraudsters setting up TikTok accounts and advertising items for sale on the TikTok Shop marketplace. The items are actually stocked on other online marketplaces, such as Amazon, and the fraudulent seller uses compromised accounts to purchase the products to fulfil these orders. All at no cost to the scammer.

I contacted Santander to find out why your reimbursement was delayed. It apologised for the delay in reimbursing you. I understand you've now been reimbursed plus an additional £150 compensation for the delay.

I also contacted TikTok and it told me that it doesn’t allow any fraudulent behaviour from sellers on TikTok Shop and banned the seller who targeted you.

Amazon told me that it took immediate action to secure your account, remove all unauthorised access, cancel suspicious orders, and remove fraudulent addresses and payment methods.

We want Big Tech to be held accountable for any content like this appearing on their platforms, and we want the regulator, Ofcom, to take stronger action against them.

Need to know

Avoid saving your card details to your online accounts, so if someone does manage to access one, they won’t be able to buy anything.

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source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/a-tiktok-shop-fraudster-hacked-my-amazon-account-and-spent-1400-aToxP0b0jjl3