About Hacked Amazon Accounts
Over the last few weeks, many Amazon Sellers accounts were hacked. The Amazon Sellers that had their accounts hacked fell into, generally, three categories:
- Funds diverted to another country and Amazon accounts needlessly suspended;
- Funds diverted to another country but Amazon accounts were not suspended;
- Locked out of account.
Our law firm obtained reinstatement of suspended Amazon accounts and we also recovered funds that had been diverted.
If your Amazon Sellers Account was hacked there are a few things you need to know. First, Amazon is clearly aware of the problem. 2017 is not the first time that Amazon Sellers accounts have been hacked.
CJ Rosenbaum confirms: “we helped numerous suspended Amazon Sellers who had their accounts hacked. Amazon’s lawyers were notified of each one… AMAZON KNOWS THAT ACCOUNTS GET HACKED… Every suspended Amazon seller that had been hacked was reinstated and every one recouped 100% of their funds.”
While Amazon sellers have no control over an unauthorized user, the result is the same: A performance notification indicating that your selling privileges have been removed..Amazon suspends the Amazon Seller’s account. Furthermore, Amazon reserves the right to suspend the listing, the seller account, or withhold funds if necessary…until the issues are resolved.
Kerry, Senior Managing Paralegal of Rosenbaum, Famularo & Segall, PC states that “if a seller’s account gets hacked, they should immediately reset all passwords, including seller account, bank account, email, etc. and ensure all devices are logged out of each.”
Successful Reinstatement for a Suspended Amazon Seller
A recent client of ours found his account hacked. An unauthorized user had accessed his account and changed the bank account information. Shortly after, he received a performance notification. Amazon had suspended his seller’s account. The Amazon account was suspended until Amazon Sellers Lawyer resolved the issues.
As if an Amazon Seller’s account suspension isn’t bad enough, to make matters worse, the hackers withdrew the remainder of the money in his account. Left without an account or funds, the client sought Amazon Sellers Lawyers’ help.
“We saw tons of Amazon Seller’s money sent to Croatia and other countries before the Amazon Sellers’ accounts were suspended. We do not know why the suspended Amazon Sellers’ money was sent to Croatia…but they were.” CJ Rosenbaum.
Amazon Sellers Lawyer first drafted a strong and complex Plan of Action, demonstrating our client’s lack of fault in the situation. Within the letter, we were careful to thank Amazon for the opportunity to correct the situation. In our Plan of Action for the suspended Amazon Sellers, we asserted that the situation was out of the suspended Amazon Sellers’ control. Our Plan of Action for the suspended Amazon Sellers focused on the corrective measures taken to avoid any hacking going forward. The Plan of Action for this suspended Amazon Seller included a variety of preventative measures such as changing the seller’s IP addresses, logging out of all electronic devices, password resets, and updated virus protection plans. REMEMBER FOR AL PLANS OF ACTION for suspended Amazon Sellers – the focus of every single Plan of Action, every Amazon Appeal and every Bezos Escalation is the same – persuade the reader at Amazon to reinstate the suspended Amazon account.
In addition to the Plan of Action we provided to the suspended Amazon Seller, we issued Amazon’s legal team a Demand for Arbitration.
A Demand for Arbitration is how suspended Amazon Sellers take the final decision out of Amazon’s hands. The decision making for the issues goes to the American Arbitration Association.
In our Demand for Arbitration for this suspended Amazon Sellers, we requested compensation for the lost funds. Given our experience dealing with Seller Performance for countless suspended Amazon Sellers, we believed it would help to simultaneously follow up with letters to Amazon legal department and Amazon’s outside law firm requesting the immediate attention of our previously submitted Plan of Action. Shortly after these actions were taken by our firm, the client’s Hacked Amazon Account was successfully reinstated.
The takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
In the event, your account is subject to a hijacking or hacking, remain calm, send a detailed Plan of Action showing how you have corrected the situation. While it is understandingly frustrating to receive an Amazon account suspension for an issue out of your hands, avoid sending emotional responses in your Plan of Action. Rather, send complete, concise and, most importantly, persuasive Plans of Action showing the useful corrective actions you implemented to prevent this going forward.
The same theory applies to Amazon Appeals and Amazon Bezos Escalations for suspended accounts: persuade the reader at Amazon to reinstate your suspended Amazon account.
Lastly, in the event, Amazon is unresponsive to your Plan of Action, or you’ve had funds illegally withdrawn from your account, and Amazon is reluctant to cover the loss, contact a law firm focused on Amazon sellers such as ours to assist you with a successful reinstatement as well as reimbursement for your losses.