Some Amazon customers will receive cheques for up to $200 following settlement with US regulators

AMAZON CUSTOMERS MAY see cheques of up to $200 arrive in the post as part of a revised order following a $2.5 billion (€2.1 billion) settlement the tech company struck with US regulators last year.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that the trillion-dollar delivery company tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so.

The revised order, announced last week, aims to reach more people and speed up the process, allowing automatic payments instead of creating unnecessary paperwork.

Amazon will begin issuing automatic redress payments from 1 October to millions of additional people who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits during a one-year period, up from 10 benefits, which was the deal previously.

Refunds will be issued up to $200 (€170), increasing from $51 (€44).

The payments will be made via electronic payment (Venmo or PayPal) or mailed cheques.

It’s understood that Irish customers may be eligible for a refund if they previously signed up to Prime via Amazon.com – the “com” domain is under the ultimate jurisdiction of US law.

The Journal previously reported that Irish customers had received cheques in the mail to the tune of $51.

Additional information about the refund process can be found on the FTC’s Amazon refund page.

FTC said that it will not be contacting anyone in relation to the refunds, so if this happens, it is likely a scam.

It also noted that no one from Amazon will ever ask you for money to get a refund.