Amazon’s AI assistant can now verify messages from the company
Amazon’s AI assistant for shopping can now verify whether emails, texts, and calls are genuinely from the company, offering a new layer of defense against impersonation scams.
Amazon has introduced a new feature for its Alexa for Shopping assistant to help users identify fraudulent messages claiming to be from the company. The tool lets customers ask the assistant about an email, text message, or phone call they received, and it will check whether it genuinely originated from Amazon.
During the verification, the AI compares the message against a database of every communication Amazon has sent, while also examining its content, formatting, and sender details. The company notes that the assistant will only confirm a message as legitimate if it is absolutely certain.
In an example provided by Amazon, a customer asks: "Did Amazon just text me an OTP from 98626? Message came around 4:50pm." Alexa for Shopping then verifies that it was indeed a genuine one-time password from Amazon.
If the assistant determines the message is not from Amazon, it advises the customer to review their orders in the app and contact Amazon's support team directly. Earlier this year, the company rolled out a similar verification method that allowed users to forward suspicious messages to verify@amazon.com for checking.
This is not the only recent improvement to Alexa for Shopping. It also gained an "Update Me When" feature that can help track new product releases.
