Is the Amazon 'unusual sign-in detected' email real?
Amazon Security Alert We detected a sign-in from a new device in Lagos, Nigeria. Your account is locked for protection. Verify within 24 hours or your account and pending orders are permanently suspended. [ Verify My Account ] Amazon Account Protection Team
Almost certainly a scam, and the safest habit costs nothing: never resolve an Amazon alert from the message itself. Open the app or type amazon.com and look at Your Orders and Your Account. A genuine sign-in problem is visible there, and a fake one leaves no trace, which is the entire test.
How to spot the Amazon scam
- The link is not amazon.com.Why
- It asks you to confirm payment details, a password, or a one-time code to unlock the account.Why
- There is a phone number to call about the sign-in.Why
- It reports an order or a device you do not recognise, which is the emotional hook.Why
- The greeting is generic, or your name is spelled oddly, or the order number matches nothing in your account.
- It threatens closure of the account within hours.Why
- An attachment is included.Why
What to do now
- Do not tap the link.Why
- Review your sign-in activity and sign out of devices you do not recognise, then change your password from a device you trust.
- Turn on two-step verification so a stolen password alone is not enough.
- Report it to Amazon at reportascam@amazon.com, which is the address Amazon publishes for suspicious messages.Why
- If you entered card details, call your bank, dispute anything unfamiliar and freeze the card.
- Delete the message once reported.
What it looks like on your phone
Got a message like this? Check yours free
Paste any text, link, or number you are unsure about. Bewary gives you a straight answer in seconds, and the exact reason why.
Private. Never sold, never tied to you.
The detail behind this
The reasoning behind each line above, for when the immediate question is settled.
Why each of those gives it away
The link is not amazon.com.
Read the domain immediately before the first single slash, not the reassuring word at the front.
It asks you to confirm payment details, a password, or a one-time code to unlock the account.
That code is the login.
There is a phone number to call about the sign-in.
Amazon support is reached from your own account, not from a number printed in an alert.
It reports an order or a device you do not recognise, which is the emotional hook.
Check Your Orders instead of the message.
It threatens closure of the account within hours.
Urgency is there to stop you opening the app.
An attachment is included.
Amazon does not send invoices or account notices as attachments you must open.
Working through the steps
Do not tap the link.
Open the Amazon app or type amazon.com and check Your Account and Your Orders.
Report it to Amazon at reportascam@amazon.com, which is the address Amazon publishes for suspicious messages.
Sending it as an attachment preserves the detail they need.
Sources and reporting
Use official channels to confirm a suspicious request and report fraud.