Amazon email to "Verify your identity on KDP"

[Loosheesh]

Did anyone else (regular customers, that is) get an email from Amazon with a request to verify their identify on Kindle Direct Publishing? I got the following email this evening:

Hi [my name as on my account],

To promote safety and trust across KDP, we’re asking authors and publishers to verify their identity.

Please log into KDP and submit a valid government-issued ID. We recommend completing this action via mobile device for easier use. Once we verify your identity, you can resume creating a book and access our publishing features.

For any questions, you can visit our Help Center or contact us.

Verify your identity

Best regards,

Kindle Direct Publishing

(Bolded text is linked)

But I'm neither an author or publisher, and I've never even gone near KDP. I don't think it's a scam, but why in the world would Amazon send this to me (Until I know more, I'm not clicking on anything )

(I may have put this in the wrong subforum; moderators, please help if that's the case. Thanks!)

[Aleron Ives]

Well, Amazon does have a support page saying you may get asked to do this:

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/to...7TYHP6FR9QAUM9

If you've never used KDP though, it may be a phishing scam to steal your Amazon credentials, so you shouldn't click the links.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

Did anyone else (regular customers, that is) get an email from Amazon with a request to verify their identify on Kindle Direct Publishing? I got the following email this evening:



(Bolded text is linked)

But I'm neither an author or publisher, and I've never even gone near KDP. I don't think it's a scam, but why in the world would Amazon send this to me (Until I know more, I'm not clicking on anything )

(I may have put this in the wrong subforum; moderators, please help if that's the case. Thanks!)

Looks like a scam. Always set up email so you can see links.

[Loosheesh]

I haven't clicked anything and I don't plan to. If it's a scam, then kudos () to the scammers, because it looks legit.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

I haven't clicked anything and I don't plan to. If it's a scam, then kudos () to the scammers, because it looks legit.

It's not a scam.

[Quoth]

This line is suspicious

We recommend completing this action via mobile device for easier use

But the actual links won't be to any real KDP site!
Real Amazon KDP front page
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US

Account details
https://account.kdp.amazon.com/account

You'd never be asked to do anything on KDP unless you had signed in there to create a title to publish.
The most personal info they'd want is the USA Taxform (which people who are not in USA and not USA citizens have to fill in, which is USA Government arrogance as otherwise you pay USA tax even on sales outside USA). That requires a real address and local tax code.
Also if you are publishing or selling on Amazon you'd set up IBAN to get paid.

You'd never get an email like the one you got. I and others I know have used KDP for over 10 years and as a customer for over 20.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not a scam.

No regular customer would be asked to verify identity on KDP. It's for small and Self Publishers.

But the actual links would make it clear, with -dot- instead of . and | instead of /

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Quoth

But the actual links won't be to any real KDP site!
Real Amazon KDP front page
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US

Account details
https://account.kdp.amazon.com/account

The links start with "https://www.amazon.com/" and lots of gunk after that; the Verify link does have "kdp.amazon.com" somewhere in between the gunk.

Originally Posted by Quoth

You'd never be asked to do anything on KDP unless you had signed in there to create a title to publish.

I've never had anything to do with KDP; the only time it crosses my radar is when I stumble across a mention in MobileRead posts! (Y'all are responsible for this, somehow )

[Quoth]

Could simply be a mistake if real Amazon links. Their websites certainly are often broken and both search and Order by Price in wish lists are broken.