CHARLOTTE — Thousands of products are recalled every year in the United States.
Products range from toys to vehicles to home appliances, each recalled for known or possible safety risks.
But now scammers are trying to use phony recall notices to trick consumers.
Taylor Frost Smith told Consumer Reports that she spends a fair amount of time scrolling and shopping.
“I frequently am buying all different kinds of things at all hours of the night, having three little kids,” she said. “I love Amazon.”
But she said safety is always a priority for her, so she pays attention to recalls.
“I also am very diligent to register my products because if there is a recall, I really want to know about it,” she said.
She said that is why she paid extra attention when she got a text claiming to be an Amazon Product Recall Notice. It said she purchased something in December that was under recall. It told her to click a link for details and a refund.
“And I almost did it,” Smith said. “But then I was like, I feel a little weird about this.”
So Smith went to her Amazon app, plugged in the order number, and began chatting with Amazon’s AI tool Rufus.
She asked the bot if there was a recall on that product. It told her there was no recall and that the text she received was likely a phishing scam.
“If you get this text or something similar, don’t respond or click any links,” said Consumer Reports’ Oriene Shin. “You should always go to the app or website where you got the product and see if there’s news about a recall.”
To check for recalls, you can visit recalls.gov or CPSC.gov, which is the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you have registered your product, you will get mail or an email with instructions.
“Checking the app, I think is really what saved me, so double check, double check,” Smith said.
Amazon and other retailers post recall and safety alerts online.
You can register for recalls by mailing in the registration card that some products have or visiting the manufacturer’s website.
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