Amazon claims that a scam group has duped it out of $4 million, and now, it has filed a lawsuit against the group.
The e-commerce giant has filed the case against an organised fraud ring that cheated the company of more than $4 million through sophisticated refund scams involving high-value items such as laptops, graphics cards, drones, and other electronics.
In a 41-page complaint filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, Amazon has accused a group operating under the name ‘RBK’ of running a ‘refund abuse service’, helping customers receive refunds for products they never returned. The operation allegedly targeted Amazon in the United States, Canada, and Europe, as well as other major retailers.
The lawsuit names Dias Temirbekul Zhumaniyaz (based in Kazakhstan) as the primary administrator, along with Michael Bauschelt (California) and Adnan Islam (New York), along with up to 20 unnamed co-conspirators. Amazon claims the group facilitated fraudulent refunds for expensive items, including PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards worth over $2,000 each, multiple Dell gaming laptops, Apple MacBook Pro laptops and more.
How the Amazon refund scam operated
According to the lawsuit, RBK promoted its services through a popular Telegram channel with over 1,000 subscribers and more than 2,100 user “vouches” (testimonials) showcasing successful fake refunds, which totalled over $4 million since February 2023.
Customers would purchase high-value items from Amazon and share their login credentials with RBK, which would then charge a fee of 15% to 30% of the order value. The scam group would then contact Amazon customer service, pretending to be the buyer, claiming the package arrived empty or damaged.
In many cases, Amazon says that scammers allegedly submitted fake police reports and used other social engineering tactics to convince support agents to issue full refunds while the customers kept the products. Amazon’s internal investigation began when one of its investigators posed as a customer and purchased a PlayStation Portal. They paid RBK $100 in Bitcoin and successfully received a fraudulent refund after RBK provided a fake police report.
Amazon’s investigation and demands
Amazon states that it spent more than $75,000 on its investigation, uncovering IP addresses in Kazakhstan linked to Zhumaniyaz and connections to multiple fraudulent accounts. As a result, Amazon’s lawsuit demands the following:
– The company is seeking damages
– Full restitution for the stolen products
– Attorney fees
– A court order blocking the defendants from using Amazon’s trademarks or operating similar schemes on Telegram and other platforms.
“RBK built an entire business model around defrauding Amazon and its customers,” the complaint argues, highlighting how the group misused Amazon’s name and logos to appear legitimate.
The defendants are yet to publicly respond to the allegations.