Some family members had their identities stolen via their AmEx card. Over $6700 was spent at Lumber Liquidators in Virginia. They thought that was the end of it, canceled the card, and put a fraud alert on all their cards.
Since then, they've received two different calls from people claiming to be from AmEx's fraud department, one on their house phone and one on a cell phone. Each call gave a number that they claimed was their direct line. They stated that they needed more information about the insurance claim. The messages that they left were exactly the same, as though reading off a script. The call on the home phone's caller ID didn't match the name that was left in the message. Both individuals who called knew the exact amount that was used at Lumber Liquidators.
I advised my family members that it was probably a continuation of the scam, and if they wanted to talk to the fraud department, they should call AmEx's normal line and ask to be redirected. They should also also ask AmEx if the number actually originated from AmEx, since the callers claimed it was their "direct line" rather than "personal number."
The thing is, AmEx doesn't have their cell phone number, just their house phone. And when they did call AmEx, AmEx had no record in their system of the phone number supposedly belonging to the individuals in the fraud department.
Please be wary of any identity theft. Most especially, please be sure that if a company calls you, and you didn't contact them first, call the business number for that company, not whatever "direct line" they offer. Never call a direct line unless you get it from a live person after calling the business number from that company yourself.
This is a phishing scam, and my family members are lucky they weren't caught by it, thanks to the inconsistencies I noticed.
Be safe!
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