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Just a heads up…..
Got someone with a thick Hindu accent using the legit 800 customer number from American Express trying to get the wife to go over a ‘fraud complaint’ and used my legit ‘last 5 of the account number’ to try and get info from her. Called American Express and they had zero records from anyone their fraud team trying to reach either of us.
So now, these scammers can apparently clone legit phone numbers and try to get your info. What’s next? The number in question is [login to see] . It IS the customer service department for American Express. They might even have outsourced scumbags within their own company trying to do this. Watch your six.
Got someone with a thick Hindu accent using the legit 800 customer number from American Express trying to get the wife to go over a ‘fraud complaint’ and used my legit ‘last 5 of the account number’ to try and get info from her. Called American Express and they had zero records from anyone their fraud team trying to reach either of us.
So now, these scammers can apparently clone legit phone numbers and try to get your info. What’s next? The number in question is [login to see] . It IS the customer service department for American Express. They might even have outsourced scumbags within their own company trying to do this. Watch your six.
Fraud
Scam
Posted 3 d ago
Responses: 1
The widespread ability to do Caller ID spoofing has been around for about 20 years, so it is no surprise to me about the legitimate American Express customer service number showing up on your caller ID.
It does sound like you were the target of a 'spear phishing' attempt though. Usually the phishing attempts you recieve on your phone (i.e., the 'scam phone calls') are 'spam phishing' where they don't have specific information and use a generic script to elicit more information ("Hi, this is American Express and we've seen possibly fraudulent activity on your account. Can you confirm your account number?" The key difference is that they were able to get the last five of your account number.
How did they get the last five of your account number? One of the most likely ways is that it was contained in one of the numerous data breaches you hear about. For example, in March 2024 attackers breached American Express card data through a third-party merchant processor, and exposed account numbers, expiration dates, and customer names* (BTW, this isn't the only one, just one of the most recent ones).
If data breaches are news to you, you can really increase your 'pucker factor' by going to Have I Been Pwned* and entering your email address. Your email address will be run against the breaches in their database and let you know if yours shows up in any of them along with descriptions of the breach and what information was in it.
As there are so many places your information is that is beyond your control, the absolute best thing you and others can do is review your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion on a periodic basis (you used to be limited to a free report once a year (what federal law requires), but all three are providing weekly reports now*)
Additionally, if you aren't applying for a credit card, mortgage, loan, etc. then I would also recommend that you place a credit freeze on your accounts. All three agencies will allow you to freeze and unfreeze your credit report free of charge.
-------------------------------------------------
* Have I Been Pwned - https://haveibeenpwned.com/
* March 2024 American Express data breach - American Express themselves wasn't compromised, but a third-party vendor who had AMEX information was breached. If you were in the breach, then American Express should have send you a notification. - https://www.mass.gov/doc/assigned-data-breach-number-2024-377-american-express-travel-related-services-company-inc/download
* Free credit reports from the top-three credit reporting agencies - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action (make sure you go through this website and not directly with the company).
It does sound like you were the target of a 'spear phishing' attempt though. Usually the phishing attempts you recieve on your phone (i.e., the 'scam phone calls') are 'spam phishing' where they don't have specific information and use a generic script to elicit more information ("Hi, this is American Express and we've seen possibly fraudulent activity on your account. Can you confirm your account number?" The key difference is that they were able to get the last five of your account number.
How did they get the last five of your account number? One of the most likely ways is that it was contained in one of the numerous data breaches you hear about. For example, in March 2024 attackers breached American Express card data through a third-party merchant processor, and exposed account numbers, expiration dates, and customer names* (BTW, this isn't the only one, just one of the most recent ones).
If data breaches are news to you, you can really increase your 'pucker factor' by going to Have I Been Pwned* and entering your email address. Your email address will be run against the breaches in their database and let you know if yours shows up in any of them along with descriptions of the breach and what information was in it.
As there are so many places your information is that is beyond your control, the absolute best thing you and others can do is review your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion on a periodic basis (you used to be limited to a free report once a year (what federal law requires), but all three are providing weekly reports now*)
Additionally, if you aren't applying for a credit card, mortgage, loan, etc. then I would also recommend that you place a credit freeze on your accounts. All three agencies will allow you to freeze and unfreeze your credit report free of charge.
-------------------------------------------------
* Have I Been Pwned - https://haveibeenpwned.com/
* March 2024 American Express data breach - American Express themselves wasn't compromised, but a third-party vendor who had AMEX information was breached. If you were in the breach, then American Express should have send you a notification. - https://www.mass.gov/doc/assigned-data-breach-number-2024-377-american-express-travel-related-services-company-inc/download
* Free credit reports from the top-three credit reporting agencies - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action (make sure you go through this website and not directly with the company).
Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email address has been exposed in a data breach
Have I Been Pwned allows you to check whether your email address has been exposed in a data breach.
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