Amazon warns AI scams are targeting India's new internet users

India's newest internet users are among the most exposed to online fraud. As millions of people come online for the first time, scammers are impersonating trusted brands to steal money and personal data, and Amazon is expanding its consumer education programme in response.

On July 31, Amazon commissioned the launch of "Your Guide to Safe Online Shopping," a free consumer handbook published by Safer Internet India, as part of the fourth edition of its Mission GraHAQ consumer literacy initiative. The handbook covers nine of the most common scams targeting Indian shoppers today.

The scams Amazon is flagging

The handbook details nine scam types: fake websites and phishing links, fake delivery scams, "too good to be true" deals, empty box scams, payment scams, fake urgency scams, delivery box scams, fake customer support accounts, and membership renewal scams. Each is illustrated with real-world scenarios and warning signs.

Phishing sits at the centre of most of them. Criminals pretend to represent legitimate companies to steal personal or financial information, often through messages that copy familiar branding and links that look genuine.

"Scammers exploiting trusted brand names erode consumer confidence," Rakesh Bakshi, Vice President - Legal, Amazon India, said when the company partnered with the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) on the #ScamSmartIndia campaign. "We want to create practical solutions that empower shoppers to recognise, avoid, and report scams."

Why first-time users face greater risks

India's internet base has expanded rapidly. Total internet subscribers rose to 1,092.79 million at the end of March 2026, up 6.24% from 1,028.61 million in December 2025, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Internet penetration now stands at 76.59 subscribers per 100 people, with 440.87 million subscribers in rural India.

Affordable smartphones and low-cost data have driven that growth, but many new users are still unfamiliar with common online scams. When I4C, set up under the Ministry of Home Affairs, partnered with Amazon India on #ScamSmartIndia in September 2025, the campaign specifically targeted first-time internet users and senior citizens as the groups most vulnerable to fraud.

Amazon's earlier festive-season awareness drive in 2024 covered phishing scams, OTP frauds, lottery cons and hiring rackets, and warned users against sharing CVV or OTP numbers with anyone claiming to represent the company.

The AI layer

Security researchers and consumer bodies have separately warned that generative AI is making these scams harder to spot. Voice-cloning tools can produce natural-sounding calls that imitate customer support executives, and text generation can personalise phishing messages at scale. Amazon's own handbook does not attribute the nine scams to AI, but the company is deploying AI on the defensive side.

In 2025, Amazon launched SENTRIX, an AI-powered system that identifies and reports malicious phishing websites in less than 24 hours and scam phone numbers the same day. The company says proactive controls like SENTRIX have improved its ability to stop impersonation scams before they reach consumers.

The impact goes beyond financial loss

Falling victim to a scam can result in stolen money, compromised personal information and unauthorised access to online accounts. Victims may also lose confidence in using digital services, slowing the adoption of online banking, e-commerce and digital payments.

Most of these scams happen outside the platform, in inboxes, phone calls and social media, where a consumer has no way of verifying who they are dealing with. That is the gap the awareness programmes are trying to close.

What Amazon is doing

Mission GraHAQ began in 2022 as a grassroots consumer literacy effort across 100 tier 2 and tier 3 cities, using street plays, radio shows and community activations. The 2026 handbook builds on that with a safety checklist covering habits such as verifying website URLs, checking ratings and reviews, using secure payment gateways and understanding OTP protections.

It also sets out consumer protections under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, criminal liability for fraudsters under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the IT Act, 2000, and steps for grievance redressal.

Customers can report suspected fraud at Amazon.com/ReportAScam, available in 28 languages. Victims can also call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 or the National Cyber Crime Helpline on 1930.

Amazon advises users to verify unexpected calls or messages through official channels, avoid sharing personal or financial information with unknown contacts, and treat offers that appear too good to be true with suspicion. The company says it will amplify the handbook across consumer education and marketing channels in the months ahead, with a focus on underserved communities.

As India's internet population keeps growing, awareness remains one of the strongest defences against online fraud.

You can access "Your Guide to Safe Online Shopping" at saferinternetindia.com.