A warning has been issued after people across Norfolk were targeted by fake calls pretending to be from Amazon asking if they had bought a number of expensive items.

The calls have been received by several homes in the county, according to Trading Standards, asking the recipients to press one on their telephone keypads to cancel fake orders.

Once the recipient presses the number they are connected to a person who attempts to steal their personal, account or financial details.

Examples of the scam include:

  • ‘An order of £700 has place for an iPhone, if this isn’t you please press one'.
  • 'A payment of £79.99 has been taken to renew your Amazon Prime subscription’ the call then states you can ‘press one to cancel the payment’.
  • 'A purchase costing £1,000 has been made on your Amazon account’ the call then states you can ‘press one if you did not make this purchase’.
  • ‘£1,000 has been charged to your Amazon account’ the call then states you can ‘press one to speak to the Amazon fraud team’.
  • 'You are required to make a payment of £399 to your Amazon account’ the call then states you can ‘press one to speak to an advisor’.

Norfolk County Council's Trading Standards team said the calls were a scam and not connected with Amazon in any way, those who receive the call are urged to hang up and not interact.

Amazon has also put together a list of tips on how to identify if a phone call is from them on the Amazon UK website.

If you have received a telephone cold call which you believe to be a scam you can report it to the county council via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133.

It comes after fake vacuum cleaner salespeople targeted homes in the county during the festive period.