Have you tried to shop your Amazon account only to find out that you cannot access it? No, it's most likely NOT you. Many Amazon users are upset after their accounts have been frozen without notice; including myself and well over one thousand other people (and counting)! This has been going on for a few days, but initially, you would think it is your fault or something you did because when you reach out to Amazon, their popular response is the same copy/paste response that they are giving everyone "You violated their terms and no further information can be given." The kicker? Most, if not all, have received no official notice of these account closures!

Per Amazon policy, if your account were to in fact close due to you violating their terms, you would receive a notice. A lot of users can access their account via the Amazon app, but not the computer. Some users report after a few hours this is no longer available either. Some users found reps who re-activated their accounts only to get them re-shutdown later. 

While we have no hard-solid evidence, we honestly believe there was a security breach. In fact, one Amazon rep said it was as such to one affected user:

Photo Credit: Ashley W.

However, we have no 100% solid proof because every rep changes the story or simply does not know anything. Bottom line - there's a HUGE issue and Amazon seems to be trying to cover it up. Users are all trying to reach out to their local news outlets to try and get this story out in the public eye. Users need and deserve to know what's going on. The accounts closed (seems to really affect Prime user accounts) - they are refusing refunds, credits, etc. Amazon is stating there is nothing they can do because the "accounts are closed." Yet, a few users are reporting fraud purchases on their credit cards/bank cards linked to their Amazon account (which only started happening since this hack/breach/whatever you want to call it). However, when you contact Amazon requesting to remove any credit card on file for your account, they claim they cannot do so - leaving all affected accounts vulnerable. 

Basically, there is a lot of issues happening around Amazon. Everyone seems to be having the same or very similar experiences. The number of people noticing these issues is growing. So let's get the word out. Check your Amazon account from a computer, NOT an app and see if you can get in. For me, personally, they had set up another account (without my knowledge) using old information. I do not have access to my order history, it took Amazon Prime away, cannot access my Amazon affiliate account, etc. Same story as everyone else. So check your accounts. Should you find you cannot access it - CONTACT AMAZON ASAP and SAVE your chat transcript, record the phone call. 

Check out this news story on the subject that Western Mass News did on one user - the first news station to even take a listen and try to reach out. 

*UPDATE 4/2/2019 1:56pm* We are now seeing the report has been deleted with no explanation. We're wondering if Amazon is pulling their lawyers in to really keep things under wraps?? Does not look good Amazon... Either way, here is a screenshot of the original article they posted:

Amazon still has yet to confirm how many accounts are closed. If your account has been affected, please join our Facebook Group (not my group, but a group someone else started that is quickly growing) and share your story and be sure to share your documented proof as we are looking into a class-action lawsuit.

Also, we suggest filing a complaint with the BBB against Amazon as well as submitting your story to Top Class Action - the more people who do the more of a chance this will get picked up. 

But again, join the Facebook group and turn on the notifications so you can stay informed! See other evidence, read full stories, chat transcripts, emails, etc that other users have submitted.

In the meantime, looking for alternative places to shop? Jet.com and eBay are definitely great places!

**UPDATE** 4/2/2018 8:40am Central Time

Well, I received a lovely "copy/paste" response from my BBB report - the same response from every user. On top of that, we found that Amazon is making claims that the Facebook group is full of "actors" and everything is conveniently a "rumor" now (see story here). The fact that it's a mix of users with not everyone having a common issue - this seems to be pretty serious..

One member, Rosetta Motta says:

I've been trying to put together the pieces of this puzzle. I am not a server security expert however I have 3 degrees in engineering and computer science and took Computer Security classes. So here are the telltale signs of a massive security breach of amazon servers:

1) No warning emails. When you violate the TOS or even when you voluntarily close your account, you get warning / confirmation emails. Nobody got anything.
2) Randomness. User with/without reviews, sellers, prime members, users that used or never used gift cards... 
3) Denial from Amazon. Randomly variable excuses. Blame on customers and denying that it is a widespread issue.
4) Unauthorized charges reported by quite a few people. Account closed but somebody is still placing orders from within those accounts. 
5) People that found their names and shipping addresses changed, often to other countries. This is also why many Amazon reps are saying the accounts were closed because "the billing address was wrong". It was not wrong, it was just that someone changed the info.
6) Thousands of users affected, within few days. There would not even be the physical time to review the activity of so many users at the same time to find past violations or suspicious activity.
7) Many of us (me included) had the two ways authentication in place. So if there was any unauthorized login attempt, we would have gotten emails and texts. I know I received none.
8) The public profiles and all the reviews of closed accounts are still visible for all the closed accounts (I verified that with my own account and reviews). So the accounts were not actually closed or deleted, just the associated email was changed.

So this all points out to a hacking script that was run in their servers that changed the emails of many users, probably in order to gain access to accounts and use / steal their billing info. While I HOPE to be wrong, I cannot find any other explanation. Maybe someone that works in servers security can chime in and offer other opinions, because Amazon may never publicly acknowledge the truth.
NO business on earth would voluntarily do even a fraction of these things especially to paying customers. It is just against their profits.

Now: Amazon needs to fix the security breach and I am almost completely sure that just re-opening accounts is NOT gonna be enough to protect our data. 
Because chances are our cards and bank info have already been leaked, as proved by the unauthorized charges that quite a few users reported. 
This is similar to previous breaches in Visa servers. Credit card info were leaked and sold around the world, and people would find charges even months later.
So Amazon needs to also be honest on whether users need to change their card and even bank account, after this.