Impostors pretending to work for online retailer Amazon have been bombarding U.S. consumers with more than 150 million robocalls a month. Since April, the numbers have sky rocketed, reported YouMail Inc, a firm specialized in tracking digital scam operations.

Amazon impostors are preying on people's trust in the brand. And they are not the only ones. Other big companies, like Costco, also are targets for these scam callers.

In most cases, the Amazon-scam robocalls tends to start with someone saying there has been suspicious activity on your account. In the next step, it asks you to follow a menu or call another phone number. The scammer then asks for your Amazon account information. In other circumstances, they may ask to help you by taking over control of your computer. That will allow access to your credit card, banking and other sensitive information.

As for Amazon, they offer some tips in the matter, while some of its departments call customers, the retailer will never ask you to disclose or verify sensitive personal information or offer a refund that you do not expect. Amazon suggests protecting your online account with a two-step verification system. 

According to Evelyn Saplala, from Home Care Services of Illinois, the number of clients reporting “these calls and other attempted scams have increased dramatically”. Always ask your family or caregiver before you send or give away any personal information. Digital scammers are always looking for something to explore. Senior isolation and, sometimes, lack of internet experience, make the senior citizens a target for this kind of cyber crimes.