Categorie: News

What a mess, Motorola! Amazon affiliate codes injected without the user’s knowledge

A decidedly unusual and worrying situation is affecting Motorola smartphone owners, including the pricey high-end devices such as the new and costly Razr Fold.

Several users have reported a anomalous behavior of the system software, which intercepts the opening of the Amazon app to silently insert, an affiliate code.

Unfortunately, the fraudulent use of these codes is not exactly new in the tech world; consider what happened with the browser extension Honey, but the case affecting the devices of the well-known brand reaches rather high levels of ambiguity.

Motorola earns from your purchases on Amazon without your knowledge

It all happens in a fraction of a second. When the user taps the Amazon icon located in the app drawer, the operating system does not launch the well-known e-commerce app directly. Instead, it briefly opens the web browser and then immediately redirects to the native application, carrying with it an affiliate code.

This phenomenon easily escapes the eye, being a very rapid screen flicker. Interestingly, the deviation occurs only if the launch starts from the all apps list, while shortcuts placed on the home screen currently appear immune to the defect.

The initial discovery came from an owner of the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra, who, via online forums, shared system logs obtained through debugging tools. The logs clearly highlighted how the system directs users to an intermediate web address rather than simply launching the desired program.

The culprit and the mysterious links

Digging deeper, the network log files showed continuous connections to a specific domain linked to a service specialized in inserting advertisements on smartphones.

The main suspect is a preinstalled application named Smart Feed, present on numerous models, including the recent Razr foldables family of 2026. Investigations show that the problem arises precisely in conjunction with the version 2.03.0070 of this software component, while the previous release is entirely unrelated to the affair.

To deepen the mystery, the strange destination of the redirect points to a web portal linked to a fashion industry influencer, identified as Kira Abboud.

However, the implicated address does not appear on any of the woman’s official social profiles, and the actual affiliate code, identified by the string sramz-kff-008-20, is completely different from those regularly promoted by the content creator.

It seems utterly illogical why a major hardware manufacturer would intercept Amazon commissions only to route them through the references of a web personality without any apparent contractual or commercial link to the company.

Temporary and possible solutions

While waiting for an official statement to clarify what happened, there is a quick method to protect yourself and stop the annoying behavior. Since it is a preinstalled program, simply go to the general settings of the smartphone, access the section dedicated to managing apps, search for Smart Feed, and proceed to deactivate it.

This simple operation instantly blocks unauthorized deviations, without compromising the stability and operation of the device.

From a purely investigative standpoint, the disorganized nature of this implementation suggests that it may not be a precisely orchestrated move by the company’s top executives to generate occult profits.

The blatant oddity of the fake website and the asymmetric codes points to a wrongdoing attributed to a third-party advertising services provider, or to a serious oversight in the quality control of the integrated software.

In any case, there remains the absolute urgency to shed full light on a matter that risks seriously undermining consumer trust in the security of their personal devices.

Luca Zaninello

Appassionato del mondo della telefonia da sempre, da oltre un decennio si occupa di provare con mano i prodotti e di raccontare le sue esperienze al pubblico del web. Fotografo amatoriale, ha un occhio di riguardo per i cameraphone più esagerati.

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