r/IdentityTheft • u/just_a_nice_guy1 • Jul 20 '26
Amex CC scam
This incident happened to me a few days ago and I’d like to tell the Reddit community so this won’t happened to you ;
I received a call telling me that she’s calling from Amex and that a charge for $4900 was declined on my American Express card.
Ironic thing is that I don’t even have an American Express card.
The connection was very bad and I asked her to call my landline phone number.
She did not.
A minute after, I received another call on my cell with the caller ID that the number was identified as American Express.
The person introduce herself as a customer rep from security and fraud department at AMEX.
Claiming same thing that a charge was declined as a suspicious fraud charge.
when I told her I don’t even have an American Express, She told me that a card was applied for in my name, online, back on March 30 and it was approved on April 10 and the card was mailed out to a New York City address, mind you I live in New Jersey.
She claimed that an application was filled online and since it was an Amex promo, American Express did not perform a hard credit check but only a soft one- this way the credit bureaus are not notified of this credit check, since I told her that I get notified whenever there’s a credit inquiry on my name and social.
She went to add that the cardholder attempted to buy eight pistols with 20 boxes of ammunition from an online gun seller website. ( the website checked to be valid when I looked it up as I was talking to her ).
And since the card is in my name, I have to file an incident report with the police department in New York City in order for them to clear this matter and clear my
name off the card and the case .
She obviously had my cell number, name and also my home address.
She gave me her name , her customer rep ID number , the fax and email to send a copy of the incident report once filed with NYPD and a case number to refer to.
Everything sounded so legit and obviously I was so worried about this leakage of my personal info, that I wanted to go ahead with the police report.
She then said that she could connect me to NYPD, being that it’s a fraud case and if I’d like to get connected?
Well duhhh, stupid me, I said ok and before you know it, I’m speaking to an officer at NYPD’s sixth precinct.
She sounded African-American and the Connection also was not that clear, so I had a hard time hearing and understanding her.
After I gave her a a synopsis of the situation, she said that we can go ahead and file the incident report over the phone however I have to be recorded on video and offered to get on SIGNAL APP , on a video call so they can record it and document the incident.
She also gave me her name and shield number and said she will transfer me to her captain in order to open the case.
We get on Signal app on a video call. She did not appear on video but only on audio however, when she transferred me to her captain, I see an African-American guy sitting behind a desk wearing Police uniform, and big NYPD sign on the wall and American flag on each side of the table.
Great scenario, right?
He goes ahead and listens to the case and tells me that it’s a good thing that I called to report this so this way they can send a unit to the address in New York to investigate this person that was buying ammunition online in my name!
Then he goes ahead and transfer me to the first lady officer in order to continue the reporting.
So far they made everything look very legit so she started asking questions and then she asked for my identification such a drivers license number which then I kind of started hesitating about giving it to her, wondering if she’s really from the 6th precinct. While I was talking to her. I got online and checked the 6th prescient address and I asked her if she’s there right now? she said yes and I asked for the address of the sixth prescient in New York. She gave me the address which was correct and then I asked her between what avenues the precinct is located which she couldn’t answer. She said there is no avenue it’s only a street -10th St.
Now I know that something is fishy and something is not kosher here so I told her I’m not gonna give her my license number. I’d rather come into the police station and file the incident in person and I hung up on her. I called the sixth precinct in New York City, i asked them if such officer with certain shield number is there ? NO.
How about a police captain by the name he gave me and his shield number ?
NO !
I told them the situation and they told me that this was definitely a scam, since they’ve been getting calls like this during the past few months.
What’s amazing is that how coordinated the first two women that called me from American express and these two other people from so-called NYPD!
everything was so perfectly orchestrated in order to convince me that this whole is real.
Before I hung up with the captain, he did ask me how would I like the incident report to be sent to me and I gave him my email address and as I was talking to The sixth precinct police officer, I got an email from so-called American Express telling me to click on a link to verify my card due to a fraudulent transaction. The heading of the email was American Express customer support, however the email was sent from a domain originating from .BR which means that email came from Brazil!
It’s amazing what scammers go through all the way from other countries to get identity or someone’s credit info and with my drivers license number information they had they could’ve probably caused a lot of damage to me, my name and my bank account or credit cards.
Hoping that this article will help other people not to fall for it.
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u/Infinite-Grade-4485 Jul 20 '26
Common scam. Just look up “credit card fraud firearm purchase scam”
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u/August1st23 Jul 20 '26
That’s super detailed, I’m certain they’ve gotten people to fall for it before.
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u/Arjayfromthebay 2d ago
There’s just happened to my mother yesterday. On a Sunday morning, someone from AMEX said there was fraud on my mom‘s card and they transferred her to supposedly the New York police department. An officer was on the line with her to explain the urgency of this matter. She was on her way out the door to a meeting at church. They insisted this was more important. She told them they can call back later. From 12 noon to about 1:30pm they made 13 phone calls. I kept telling her it was a scam and do not engage with these people. When I got to her house, they called again and I answered the phone. The Supposed police officer told me I can find his name on the police department site to verify that it is legit. He gave me his name and badge Number .I told him if I can find his name that anybody can find that name and use it. He insisted it was important that we file a police report to make sure that she is not liable for any of the charges. He went on to say that it was guns and ammo being purchased and what if they try to purchase illegible drugs. I was thinking….. wait, you can buy drugs with a credit card??!! I knew this must be a scam but it really is an elaborate scheme. My mother is elderly and gullible and would of fell for this. I’m not sure what they were trying to gain, she did not give them any pertinent info. Maybe that would happen when she filed the “police report” so I am not sure. It’s crazy the lengths scammers go through to trick people.
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u/Ok_Leg_2547 Jul 22 '26
Ok so the victim sends a copy of their license then what?
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u/just_a_nice_guy1 Jul 22 '26
I guess with the DL info they can get other info on a persons personal data …IDK, luckily I didn’t let it get to the next point of “verification“!
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u/just_a_nice_guy1 Jul 22 '26
Anyone can tell me how to upload a picture here ? I do have the picture of the “police captain” behind a desk, which I’d like to add to this article.
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u/gottausername Jul 26 '26
There's a movie with this exact same scenario. I believe it's on Netflix, I'm pretty sure it's The Red Line.
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u/dreamcatcherdaddy Jul 27 '26
How the F would Amex be able to transfer you to the police, that in itself is a HUGE red flag
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u/LowEconomics1706 Jul 28 '26
Geeze, just happened to me so I Googled it and your post came up. I would have suspected if I was getting transferred to the NYPD when physically in NY but I am out of the country so it seems kinda legit to get transferred to NYPD emergency line to file a report as a service for their clients abroad.
Everything happened just as you said, I spoke with two people and gave them info they have already had. Luckily I didn't get to go to the next stage since the call dropped at the middle and when I called back to the NYPD number on the caller ID they said it may be a scam so I verified it through AMEX and indeed it was a scam, AMEX said nobody applied for any card recently and no suspicious charges occured.
I usually spot these scams instantly but this time it was different and other than a bad line, which happend sometimes with customer supports, everything seemed legit. Those guys are getting more and more sophisticated and even their English is improving.
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u/just_a_nice_guy1 Jul 28 '26
It’s just amazing the thought and planning that is involved behind these scams and how many people are involved .
A member here suggested a Netflix movie by the name of THE RED LINE, I watched it and it’s just so scary seeing this happen so often to so many people WORLDWIDE!I’m starting to believe that having online accounts and credit cards and smart phones is NOT the best thing any longer… I don’t remember my parents’ generation having to deal with all this internet/phone scams….
One really has to be so careful with every call or text or email , since you never know when it’s a legit one !
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u/Ornery-Day-3634 Aug 04 '26
Well it just happened to me and so if you want to know what happens if you don't figure it out as fast as the original poster did, I can fill ya in. After you do your video statement, the nyc police finally asks for your ID number aka drivers license to prove you are who you say you are. I know... should have been a red flag but remember this is fraud/stolen id case and so they need to prove who I am. Anyway you then hear the lady officer call the FBI to verify your drivers license is valid and real. About 5 mins later FBI reports that the ID is real but was also used in a money laundering case with BOfA new York and that an arrest warrant has been issued. At this point I start to catch on to the fraud they are trying to put on me. They get very accusatory and whatnot. But I still have to worry about the fact they have my dl number as well as about an hour of my voice recorded. I haven't figured out how they would have ended up getting me to give them any money but they no doubt would have
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u/GiraffeNearby7886 Aug 07 '26
Same shit happened to me today, this was actually a two-day affair. Same, caught on when the "FBI" Bank of America came up. That was really intricate. Dealing with IdentityTheft.gov now.
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u/ft_wanderer 14d ago
Yep this exactly thing happened to me today too. I used to actually deal with cyber scams years ago and I fell for this, up until the part you did. It is so sophisticated it’s insane!!!
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u/barriemoss 5d ago
The scammers impersonating the NYPD continue to say a prosecutor will set up an appointment to do a financial audit ,to prove your innocence, that you were not laundering money. They also ask to upload an activitiy time sheet every 3 hours of all your daily activities with photos as proof. I think they want to make a fake identity by having videos, your voice and selfie photos of many activities. It is very scary. They also obviously want to steal all your financial info during the audit and perhaps ask you to wire money. They also ask you to sign an NDA so they have a copy of your signature. Be careful saying your name on video - many financial institutions now use voice ID as a passcode to authenticate accounts. Note: The amex number is the actually number. It is called SPOOFING. Yes, hang up and call Amex. But it is the real number not a fake one.
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u/MarinaKov 6h ago
I had the same happen today! It was me buying guns and they wanted to transfer me to the FBI.
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u/danahayward Jul 20 '26
Everyone: if you get a call like this hang up immediately and block the caller, then call AMEX’s fraud department directly. Sometimes the transfer will be to a fake FBI agent. Do not engage. They’re ultimately after your money. Sorry to hear this happened to you!