Res, you've totally missed the driving force behind this policy. Are you aware that if Amazon ships you something (by UPS, FedEx, or whatever) and it's stolen off your porch, they'll usually instantly replace it for you at no charge? That's an out-of-pocket expense for which they're not legally liable, but they do it anyway and it's bound to cost them a fortune. They're trying to prevent it. Makes perfect sense.
If a person is notified by a delivery service that the package was delivered, but if the package is not where it is expected to be, the person is supposed to notify the delivery service.
The delivery service then tries to contact the driver to see if the driver remembers where the package was dropped off. If the package cannot be found, the person can then contact Amazon or whomever. That contact is initiated by the recipient, who will be informed what happens next.
"Cold calls" regarding supposed deliveries are seldom made by the driver (although they may be made if the recipient is in a gated community, or for some other reasons). In those cases, the call will be from the gate phone, or from the driver's cell phone ... NOT from an 800 number, and definitely NOT from an out-of-state number!
In most cases, the "cold call" is a variation of scam #19 , as described here:
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/facts.html
Just received a call from this number. The driver for Amazon Prime couldn't find my apartment and I had to give direction. I would advice NOT to block this number.