Martin Lewis said a WhatsApp call about a new iPhone nearly caught him while he was rushing between two podcasts in the studio. The caller claimed to be from Amazon, and the pressure was enough to make him check before responding.
Lewis said the call came on July 16 and that he was told to enter a six-digit code to stop the issue. He later found the number was linked to a known Amazon scam, and said the episode showed how convincing the approach can be when someone is distracted.
Amazon call in the studio
Lewis said: “I was in the studio, rushed in between recording my two podcasts. I got a WhatsApp call from 'Amazon'.” He said the caller claimed there were reports of suspected fraud over a new iPhone, then pushed for the code when he started checking whether the call was genuine.
He also said: “I was feeling rushed and pressured, as the team needed to record, but finally enough of my brain turned on to the call and alarm bells started. I said I wanted to first check that this call was legit [and] he got pushy, saying if I didn't send the code he wouldn't stop the iPhone being sent.” That detail matters for readers because the scam did not rely on obvious errors; it relied on urgency and interruption.
Six-digit code and data mine
Lewis said: “Clearly, had I replied with the code he'd sent, he would have then asked for further details, and that would've started the data mine. Of course, by answering, I did inadvertently confirm that my number is a real one, so I'll have to cope with that. The real lesson here is how sophisticated and plausible it was.” He said anyone can be caught out, even when they are usually alert to scams.
The practical step is simple: let the call ring out rather than hanging up manually, because engaging with the caller can tell scammers a number is live. On an iPhone, users can turn on Silence Unknown Callers in Settings and Phone. On Androids, users can enable Filter Spam Calls in the Caller ID and Spam option in Settings.
What Lewis’s case adds is not a new scam category, but a sharper view of the method. A convincing caller, a fake Amazon identity, a new iPhone story, and a six-digit code were enough to nearly move the conversation forward before the warning signs fully clicked.
