PayPal or Amazon "payment confirmation" for something you did not buy
An email confirms an expensive purchase you never made, and gives a number to ring to cancel it.
How this scam works
The email looks exactly like a real receipt. It says you have just bought something expensive: a £899 iPhone, a £459 antivirus subscription, a £312 gift card. Your instinct is to stop the payment immediately, which is exactly what the email wants.
There is no link to click, just a phone number to "cancel this order". That is deliberate, because a phone number gets past spam filters and gets you talking to a person.
When you ring, the "cancellation" requires them to access your computer or confirm your card details. Some versions process a fake refund and then ask you to return an overpayment.
The purchase never happened. Check your actual PayPal or Amazon account and it will not be there.
Warning signs
- A confirmation for something you definitely did not buy
- A phone number to call rather than a link
- The amount is large enough to make you panic
- The sender address is not paypal.com or amazon.co.uk when you look closely
What to do
- Do not ring the number in the email.
- Open the PayPal or Amazon app yourself, or type the address in, and check your order history.
- Forward the email to report@phishing.gov.uk, then delete it.
If it has already happened to you
This happens to sensible, careful people every day. What matters now is acting quickly.
- If you rang and gave card details, ring your bank now.
- If you let them onto your computer, disconnect it from the internet and change your passwords from another device.
- Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk.
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Check a messageLast updated 29 September 2026. Source: NCSC.