Fake Alexa Downloads, Real Tech Support Bills: DOJ Seizes Six Phony Websites

You buy an Amazon Echo. You want to set it up. You search online, land on a site with nice pictures of Echo devices, and click "download" for the Alexa app.

And ... error. Download failed. Please call this number for technical support.

Look, I've been in this industry a long time. That phone number is the whole scam.

So what happened?

In October 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that the United States had seized six websites used in a telemarketing and online advertising scheme aimed at Amazon customers.

According to the DOJ:

• The sites showed photos of Amazon Echo devices and claimed to help customers activate them.
• They had links to "download" the Alexa app. Instead of a real download, they ran a fake "download" process that ended in a "failed download" error.
• Then they told customers to call specific phone numbers for technical support.
• So-called "technicians" took remote control of customers' computers and convinced them there were "technical issues" keeping their Echo devices from working. No such issues existed.
• They charged $99 for a two-year plan or $149 for a four-year plan for steps that were otherwise free or unnecessary, like registering the Alexa software or "network security."

Amazon referred the matter to the DOJ. The U.S. Secret Service investigated. The referral came through the DOJ Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch, as part of its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force.

Here's the thing ...

Notice how the scam worked. Nobody cold-called anybody. The website did the work, and the victim made the call.

That's it. That is inbound. And if you're in pay per call, inbound is your world.

So let me say it plainly. An inbound call generated by a lie is still a lie. The fake error message is the ad. The phone number is the conversion. Read that again.

Why should you care?

Because if you're buying or routing inbound tech support calls, you need to know what the consumer saw before they dialed. Fake error pages, fake download failures, fake virus warnings ... that's how these calls get made.

And who referred this one? The brand itself! Big companies watch for people abusing their names. Am I right?

What to do this week

• Review the landing pages behind every inbound tech support campaign.
• Ban fake errors and fake alerts. DO NOT run them. Just don't.
• Don't let anyone imply they're the manufacturer when they're not.
• Listen to calls for scripts that invent problems.

Pro tip: the DOJ's own advice is to verify with the manufacturer before paying for tech support. If your offer can't survive that, you have a problem.

It's not rocket science: Honest ads, honest calls. That's it.