Amazon India sanctioned for selling hacked phone to customer

Complainant’s ordeal with compromised device

The complainant, Sumita Das, a resident of Sector 12 of Chandigarh, purchased the smartphone from Amazon.

In September 2023, fraudsters allegedly accessed his personal data via the compromised device and made unauthorized purchases from his Amazon account.

Das also alleged that his ICICI Bank credit card and email were hacked through the same phone.

Even after reporting the matter to Amazon, she claims the company neither canceled the transactions nor provided timely support.

Amazon’s response and court observations

In response to the allegations, Amazon India and Amazon Pay Later claimed to have canceled the fraudulent orders and provided “appropriate and effective assistance” to Das.

The consumer court, however, observed that the collection agents of online platforms generally “thoroughly check” a product before its delivery.

The court ruled in favor of Das, saying Amazon failed to “act promptly” despite being informed of the suspicious activity on his account.

Court criticizes Amazon’s handling of fraudulent orders

The court also criticized Amazon for processing some orders placed by the fraudsters without verifying their credentials.

Those orders were later canceled and a refund was promised by Amazon, but Das says she has yet to receive that refund.

The commission noted that online platforms typically thoroughly check products before collecting returns, but in this case Amazon failed to act quickly despite knowing about the suspicious activity.