AI-driven phishing scams target Scottish shoppers during Amazon Prime event
Ahead of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days in October 2025, Advice Direct Scotland warned Scottish shoppers of increasingly sophisticated AI-powered phishing scams targeting them with fraudulent emails and texts. Scammers use ChatGPT and AI image generators to create convincing fake messages and celebrity endorsements impersonating Amazon to steal money and personal information.
What happened
Ahead of Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days promotion on 7-8 October 2025, Advice Direct Scotland warned Scottish shoppers of AI-powered phishing scams targeting them via emails, texts, and calls. Scammers impersonate Amazon, claiming account issues such as temporary holds, cancelled orders due to incorrect billing, or expired payment methods, and direct victims to click links to verify their accounts or update payment details.
Scammers create phishing messages using ChatGPT to produce human-like dialogue with natural language processing that is more convincing than traditionally poorly-written scam messages. AI image generators are used to create fake celebrity endorsements.
Reported impact
Criminals aim to steal victims' money and personal information through the scams. Advice Direct Scotland notes that time-limited offers during promotional events can lead shoppers to ignore warning signs and fall victim to the fraud.
Index analysis
AI tools including ChatGPT and image generators have enabled scammers to produce more sophisticated phishing content. Previously, scams were identifiable by poor spelling and grammar, but AI-generated messages now appear more credible and are harder to detect.
Governance controls
Advice Direct Scotland advised shoppers to verify they are on the official Amazon website before entering payment details, check for misspelled or modified domain names, and report suspicious messages using the ScamWatch tool at scamwatch.scot.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.