Amazon scammers used hacks and bribes to make millions off fake returns
Amazon is suing a naughty but enterprising group called REKK for offering a paid service to willing shoppers looking to get big-ticket items like laptops and game consoles for cheap by exploiting its return and refund system.
This isn’t like the times you try to return a small item purchased from Amazon, like a pair of socks, and the system refunds you without telling you to send it back. As reported by Bloomberg, Amazon’s lawsuit accuses REKK of using social engineering and phishing attacks on Amazon fulfillment employees or bribes to get millions of dollars in refunds without actually sending the items back.
REKK advertised its services to shoppers in a Telegram channel with 30,000 followers, taking payment as a part of the item’s original price and then manipulating the system to log a return, which never happened. One example from the lawsuit shows how the scheme worked: one defendant, Andrew Ling, ordered five iPads and then worked with REKK to get a refund. In this case, REKK allegedly used a phishing attack against a fulfillment center employee to mark the iPad returns as received in Amazon’s systems.
Allegedly, one Amazon employee bribed by REKK approved 76 product returns worth over $100,000 in return for $3,500, while another was paid $5,000 to approve 56 fake returns worth over $75,000.
Filed Thursday in a US District Court in the state of Washington, it names more than two dozen people from the US, the UK, Canada, Greece, Lithuania, and the Netherlands.
Amazon is suing a naughty but enterprising group called REKK for offering a paid service to willing shoppers looking to get big-ticket items like laptops and game consoles for cheap by exploiting its return and refund system. This isn’t like the times you try to return a small item purchased…
Recent Posts
- Seagate FireCuda X Vault review: Large capacity and decent transfer rates make this external hard drive a great solution for video and photography
- I customized a MacBook Neo with colorful spare parts
- EveryPlate Meal Kit Review (2026): Low Cost, Simplicity, Flavor
- I’m a dad and these are the tech gifts and gadgets I’d love my kid to buy me for Father’s Day 2026
- Google experiments with sending Chrome searches straight to AI
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023