Kamal Ghorui
A group of scammers stole $4 million worth of products from Amazon, including graphics cards and laptops, by duping customer support through an elaborate refund scam. Amazon has filed a lawsuit in Washington state District Court accusing a group using the name RBK of getting millions in refunds for products that were never returned. A group called RBK has been selling services to help Amazon customers commit reimbursement fraud by exploiting how the company issues refunds for packages that aren’t delivered, according to the 41-page complaint. The group has been targeting Amazon in the US, Canada, and Europe, as well as other retailers.The complaint names Dias Temirbekul Zhumaniyaz, Michael Bauschelt and Adnan Islam as defendants, along with up to 20 unknown people from Amazon who are said to be involved in the operation.
How the refund scam worked
In its lawsuit, Amazon says that RBK promoted its refund service through the Telegram app and built a following of more than 1,000 subscribers. The company says RBK posted more than 2,100 user testimonials, or “vouches,” showing fraudulent Amazon refunds. Since February 2023, RBK has posted over $4,000,000.00 in vouchers for Amazon refunds,” the lawsuit adds. Amazon’s lawsuit says that RBK also used Amazon’s name and logos in Telegram posts in a way that could make the service appear legitimate at first glance.According to the complaint, RBK users would buy items from Amazon, then contact the group through the Telegram app and share their Amazon login information. As per Amazon’s complaint, RBK charged users 15% to 30% of the order cost, contacted customer service while posing as the buyer and claimed that the shipment arrived as an empty package.In certain cases, Amazon said that to dupe customer support into believing the claim, RBK will use elaborate, fake police reports about the missing package, among other social engineering techniques.
How Amazon found out the fraud
Amazon uncovered the fraud refund scam after a company investigator posed as a buyer interested in RBK’s services. An investigator bought a PlayStation Portal Remote Player for $199 plus $13.18 in tax, then paid RBK $100 in bitcoin after the item was delivered. Amazon says the investigator later received a refund after RBK told customer service that the product had not been received and provided a police report. The company’s investigation also found a video and an image on the RBK Telegram channel that appeared to reveal the mailing address and phone number of the alleged administrator of the scam group, Kazakhstan-based Dias Temirbekul Zhumaniyaz. “Amazon’s internal investigators used this information to identify login information, including IP addresses located in Kazakhstan, that were used to access Amazon accounts associated with Zhumaniyaz,” the company says. The same login information was connected to other customer accounts involved in the refund fraud, including for high-value items such as laptops and drones, as well as two PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Graphics Cards for $2,054.43.”
Amazon spent $75,000-plus in investigation
The company says it spent more than $75,000 investigating the alleged scheme and is asking the court for damages and injunctive relief. Amazon has asked the court that the suspects should be told to pay restitution for the fraud and cover the company’s attorney fees in the lawsuit. The e-commerce provider is also urging the court to block the defendants from using Telegram or Amazon trademarks to engage in similar schemes.
