Amazon has added scam-message verification to Alexa for Shopping, the company announced Wednesday. Around 360,000 customers each year contact Amazon customer service to ask whether a message claiming to be from Amazon is real. The consumer AI can now answer that question by checking the communication against the billions of messages Amazon has sent globally and analyzing the sender information, content, timing, message metadata, and more. Amazon says the system can definitively confirm whether a message originated from its own systems.

The feature improves as customers report more suspicious messages, helping Amazon identify scams more effectively over time. It follows earlier anti-scam efforts, including the [email protected] email address and an online customer service form, both of which let people forward suspicious messages for confirmation. The scam types Amazon cited include fake order confirmations, Prime membership renewal alerts, account suspension warnings, package delivery notifications, and job scams.

The addition is another sign of Amazon‘s product strategy around Alexa, which now emphasizes shopping-related assistance and proactive help. Alexa for Shopping already offers personalized deals, shopping guides, reordering everyday items, AI product overviews, and handwritten shopping list transcription. On Tuesday, Amazon also launched an Alexa feature that alerts customers when something new and relevant happens, such as a favorite brand launching a product, a favorite author releasing a book, or an artist dropping a new record. Alexa for Shopping is available through both the Amazon website and the Amazon mobile app.