Amazon.com asking for faxed ID for Kindle purchases- anyone else get this?

Me being me, I'm always sceptical of any email asking for ID like my passport. The email was very plain text, no frills. Is it legit? Who uses fax any more, ffs?

"Hello from Amazon.

We are writing because the home country registered to your Kindle account may not match your country of residence. Due to publishing rights, the home country registered to your account must match your country of residence.

To continue purchasing titles available for The United States, please send a copy of your valid government-issued identity card, passport, or a utility bill received within the previous 90 days to our secure fax line:

Within the US: 206-266-1838
Outside the US: (00)1-206-266-1838

For your security, you may obscure the passport, ID, or account number. However, we ask that you do not obscure any portion of your name, your address, or any expiration or statement dates.

Your fax will be converted to a secure electronic image that will never be printed. Once we have completed the verification process, we will delete the image.

If you have moved to a different country, you can update your home country in the Manage Your Kindle section of your Amazon account (www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle):

  1. Login to amazon.com/manageyourkindle.
  2. Click "Country Settings."
  3. Click "Change."
  4. Choose an existing home address from your account or enter a new one.
  5. Click “Update.”

We may restrict your home country setting if you continue to purchase from the catalog of titles for The United States without completing the verification process.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Regards,

Account Specialist
Amazon.com"

Related Stores

Amazon US
Amazon US

Comments

  • I don't like the idea of sending vital information such as a passport over to companies. Have you tried talking to the customer support?

  • http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/forums/kindleqna?ie=U…
    http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/book-nook-118/kindle-accou…
    http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=10946

    This is a legit email. Basically Amazon is clamping down on people who are using foreign Amazon sites and bypassing the region restriction set by Amazon. The acc gets locked down and you will be barred from purchasing from Amazon USA until you prove you are a resident of USA through the means mentioned above.

    You got found out because your billing information and IP addresses let Amazon knew that you were purchasing all or most of your books from outside of USA.

  • Just out of interest, What happens if you change address to your australian one? Do you lose/get content refunded? Are there big changes terms of content and pricing?

  • I don't get it, if people don't agree with draconic policies of a particular companies, why fork out money for it and spend time to bypass those policies? Its not really helping the cause and all its doing is letting the companies know their evil plan is working, best way is to speak with your money and don't buy em…

  • I'm guessing this has arisen due to peeps downloading kindle books that are free in one country (for example, the US), but not another (Australia), by temporarily changing their country of residence to that country. I reckon at worst, we may only be able to get the books that are free on the Australian Amazon site, in the future?

  • I got the same email while trying to buy from Australia site while I was travelling overseas. That's crazy! It means I can't buy books when I was overseas?!

  • Sorry all,

    I got caught up in work & haven't checked back.

    I actually do have a US passport as well as AU (dually). I'm wondering the same as Eg51…am I on the "no sell list" for the country I'm currently not in??

    I'll post back when I find out more.

    Ta

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