Fake Amazon Extended Warranty Scam
Fraudsters impersonate Amazon to cold-call or email customers with offers to purchase or renew an 'Amazon Extended Warranty' for electronics — collecting upfront fees and card numbers for protection that does not exist.
Part of: Fake Extended Warranty Scams
Last reviewed: 8 June 2026
Amazon sells certain protection plans through its 'Asurion' partnership for eligible devices, but scammers exploit general consumer familiarity with the brand to sell entirely fictitious warranty products. The calls typically target people who recently bought a television, laptop, or appliance.
Victims are told their item's manufacturer warranty is about to expire and that Amazon is offering a discounted extended plan. The caller may already know the type of product purchased, making the offer feel personalised. In reality, the caller harvested this information from data broker databases or a previous data breach.
Once the victim pays — often by credit card or gift card — the fraudulent warranty certificate arrives (if at all) as a PDF with no backing insurer and a disconnected phone number. When the victim later tries to make a claim, the company is untraceable.
How this scam works on the Amazon brand
Calls typically come from spoofed US numbers that display 'Amazon' in the caller ID. The agent asks for the make and model of recently purchased devices 'to check warranty status' and then presents an urgent limited-time offer at a price well below what a legitimate retailer plan would cost.
Some scammers run this via email, sending a message that looks like an official Amazon order email with a line item for an 'Extended Protection Plan renewal'. A clickable 'Manage Plan' button leads to a payment page on a lookalike domain.
A third variant targets buyers who purchased a product that genuinely comes with an optional Amazon protection plan — the scammer monitors public review data or marketplace listings to identify recently activated devices, then cold-contacts the registered buyer.
Common red flags
- Unsolicited call or email about an Amazon warranty you do not recall purchasing
- Caller requests payment by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency instead of a normal card payment through your Amazon account
- The offer expires in hours and the agent pushes you not to log in to your Amazon account to verify
- Caller already knows your device type but asks for the serial number, which they then claim to 'register' — this harvests the serial for future fraud
- The policy document shows an insurer name that returns no legitimate results online
- Any mention of Amazon warranty business should be verifiable inside your Amazon account under 'Your Protection Plans'
How to protect yourself
- Log in to amazon.com and check 'Your Protection Plans' under your account to see any genuine plans already attached to your orders
- Never pay for any warranty product via gift card; legitimate merchants do not request this
- If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and call Amazon's published customer service number from amazon.com/contact-us
- Research any warranty company name in your state's department of insurance database before purchasing
- Place your number on the national Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov to reduce cold-call volume
- If you paid by credit card, dispute the charge immediately with your card issuer
How to report it
- Forward phishing emails to [email protected]
- Report the call or email to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
- File a complaint with the FCC at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov if the call involved spoofed caller ID
- If gift cards were involved, report to the card issuer's fraud line and keep the physical card as evidence
Frequently asked questions
Does Amazon offer its own extended warranties?
Amazon sells protection plans through an Asurion partnership on eligible products, but these are purchased at the time of buying the item on amazon.com — not via unsolicited calls or emails afterwards.
Can the caller ID showing 'Amazon' be trusted?
No. Caller ID spoofing is cheap and easy. A displayed name of 'Amazon' provides no authentication; always hang up and call back via the number on amazon.com.
I paid by gift card and now cannot reach the company — what do I do?
Report to the FTC and the gift card issuer immediately. Unfortunately gift card payments are rarely recoverable, but the FTC can investigate and may help in egregious cases.