American Express Replacing Card

Amex sent me an email today which had a "FRAUD MAYBE, click to get called" message. I clicked, checked that the link was a https one that ended with Americanexpress.com, then clicked. My phone rang. The lady said my name and asked if that was me. I affirmed it was. Then she ran through a list of charges, most of which were fraudulent. Then, and this is where it gets weird, she said that she wanted me to verify an address. I said OK. She asked what it was and I said that I wasn't going to give out my address or any other info over the phone.

Amex email fraud alert

I then realized that she was in a very loud space, not what I think of as an Amex teleservice center. I asked what office she was in and she said that she could not say. Any number that I can use to call you back?  No, what about the caller ID number. She said that might not work. I asked if there was any way to identify her and she said that I could have her agent ID:  CVGA18.  The caller ID was 800 924-9289.

At this point, I asked her to stay on hold and I pulled out another phone and called the number on the back. After several minutes of automated and eventually human efforts to identify me, they finally asked what I wanted.  "I'm trying to see if I'm being spoofed."

As it turns out, I was not. Amex has a policy of requiring the individual to give his address to the agent. They want it verified. Sound weird, they've billed me at that address a hundred times or so but their policy requires them to get me to give them my address, even when they called me, before they'll ship me a new card which is what they want to do.

I hate it when Amex and these other companies just have stupid policies. Doesn't this seem stupid?