Amazon shoppers warned of nasty text scam this Christmas that can take over your iPhone

SCAMMERS are out in force as people look for a good Christmas bargain.

As usual it’s bogus texts doing the rounds, all with a slightly different tactic.

AlamyOnce the dodgy app is installed the fraudster can control your devices[/caption]

Fraudsters are all too aware that many people will be looking for gifts on Amazon, so this scam uses the online retailer’s name.

It begins with a text saying you’ve ordered something quite expensive that you haven’t ordered at all.

Going for a big bucks item is designed to alarm you into calling them.

But don’t be fooled.

Tech Radar decided to call them up for testing purposes to see just what the these thieves get up to.

The person on the other end of the line attempted to make it seem legitimate, asking things like the order number in the text and your name.

They go on to suggest there have been multiple orders from a distant location – another trick to try to scare you.

The con artist then says the only way you can resolve this is using something called the Amazon Secure Server.

It turns out this is a well known service called AnyDesk, which is used legitimately a lot by IT staff at companies across the world.

The tech allows a person to remotely control your device – so it seems the cyber thief is using the tool to get into your gadgets.

Once they’ve done that, they can snoop around and open just about anything.

So if you receive a text message for an Amazon order you didn’t make, don’t panic.

Go via the official channels, like Amazon’s own website, for help if you’re unsure whether it’s real or not.

It’s also worth noting, Amazon would never ask you to download some app to resolve such a thing.

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