Amazon Prime Day is behind us but Amazon is concerned about the rise of criminal scams targeting its customers via email, call and text. The firm has sent out email warnings to its Prime subscribers explaining what to look out for to avoid falling victim to fraud as scammers pose as the online retailer.

Even if you’re not a Prime member it's worth paying heed to Amazon’s advice, as these online tricks are getting smarter by the day. According to the tech giant, scammers commonly send out fake email attachments or emails that say you have a fee to pay.

It’s not always clear how these tricksters have got hold of your email address, but it could have been from a data leak or simply by your email address being guessed. Given Amazon is such a popular service, criminals will send out thousands of fake emails to as many people as possible in the hopes of catching a few out with their deception.

Amazon warned that fraudulent scams take the form of “unexpected emails, calls, and texts from impersonators that often refer to an unauthorised charge for membership or notice of membership expiration. They ask you to verify your account by providing personal or payment information.”

By posing as Amazon, the criminals hope you will enter your payment details or account login. Once they have collected this information they can either purchase items using your Amazon account, or worse, take control of your payment cards and make significantly larger purchases from other retailers.

Amazon advises that if you get an email but aren’t sure if it’s legitimate to visit the Amazon UK’s Message Centre, where you can login and check official correspondence from Amazon. If the suspicious email isn’t there, you know you were right to be concerned as it is a fake message.

The company also says to only ever check or edit your Prime membership status or payment details via the Your Account section of Amazon.co.uk.

These nasty messages don’t always come into your inbox - it’s also possible to receive a dodgy text or phone call, the latter of which can catch even the most cautious of us off guard. In general, companies will not ask you for payment details over the phone, particularly from a cold call. If you are suspicious, don’t give any details away. You can always hang up to be safe.