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Amazon is telling customers that people bought gifts for their non-existent baby

Amazon is telling customers that people bought gifts for their non-existent baby

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You know that story about how Target was able to predict that a teen girl was pregnant based on her shopping habits? Retailers have a lot of information about you based on things you watch and stuff you buy online, and they use this informative to send marketing emails, coupons, or product suggestions to get you to buy more things. But it looks like Amazon might be a little off on this latest attempt. The company appears to have sent a bunch of random customers emails saying a gift from their baby registry has been purchased, sending unintended recipients into mass confusion.

Some recipients were concerned it was a phishing attempt. A few people who received the email say they clicked through to see what baby registry Amazon had referred to, but were taken to a broken webpage. Some users who did have a registry clicked through to find that no items had actually been purchased.

“A technical glitch caused us to inadvertently send a gift alert e-mail earlier today,” an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to The Verge. “We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”

Though it’s not a deliberate phishing attack, it’s still probably best if you don’t click any part of that email and just giggle with the rest of the internet. Unless, of course, Amazon does know something you don’t.

Update September 19th 8:45PM ET: This article has been updated to confirm the glitch with a statement from Amazon.