Amazon Unveils AI-Powered Tool to Verify Legitimacy of Messages

Amazon has rolled out a new tool to help its customers verify whether messages they receive are legitimate or scams. The verification tool, housed under Amazon's Alexa for Shopping feature, uses artificial intelligence to compare customer-provided information about the message against a record of every message Amazon sent. This includes details such as who sent the message, what it says, when it was sent, and how it is formatted.

According to Scott Knapp, vice president of worldwide buyer risk prevention at Amazon, 'scammers thrive when customers can't easily verify whether a message is real.' The tool only confirms a message is real when it's completely certain. If the message is from Amazon, the customer will see a response that reads, 'Yes, this message is an official Amazon communication.'

However, if the tool can't verify with absolute certainty, it will default to providing guidance on how to retry or reach out to verify@amazon.com. The verification tool is only available in the United States through Alexa for Shopping at this time.