Amazon users across the UK are being told to remain vigilant in the face of a new scam phone call campaign which targets customers of the e-commerce giant in an attempt to steal personal data, according to the Mirror.

Con artists are calling large numbers of people and making the claim that their Amazon account has been compromised by hackers and then used to make an unwanted purchase.

A number of different tactics for stealing cash from innocent victims are deployed, including social engineering by which fraudsters extract personal information from individuals under the guise that they need it to help solve the phoney issue.

Like many other phone scams, another of the aims in this case is to get people to infect their PC with malware which then allows the attackers unmitigated access to files and the data contained within.

A statement from anti-scam organisation Action Fraud confirmed that these calls were going after Amazon customers and that anyone who receives this type of call should put the phone down rather than progressing with any of the instructions provided.

If there is any confusion, it is always best to call Amazon directly rather than assuming that a cold caller does genuinely represent the company.

While it is possible to carry out safe shopping online without worrying about having private data stolen, scammers still rely on scare tactics delivered via other mediums to trick potential targets. Some people have already lost tens of thousands of pounds as a result of this latest campaign, which means that vigilance amongst the rest of the population is vital.

The fact that such scams tend to work on the most vulnerable members of society makes them all the more problematic, which is why raising awareness is so important.