topic Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:37:44 GMT

Does anyone have a similar experience with American Express Collection?

My American Express credit card debt has been charged off for nearly a year. I have ignored all their calls, lately I suddenly starting to receive emails from the email address : service@wecanhelp.americanexpress.com for the past two weeks and before that,the email is : Services@credit.americanexpress.com.Their phone number listed on the email is 83363706680

I assumed it is true American express, so I clicked on the payment options listed on the email and made a settlement offer. It took me to a website to pay and didn't allow me to use my discover debit card for some reason, so I had to do an ACH transfer.

After I did that, I received an email, it looks red flag to me because it says this :

"This email confirms that the Settlement Amount and terms listed below represent an offer for full settlement of the Balance Owed on your American Express® account referenced above.

Settlement Amount:

$759.56

As a reminder, this settlement offer is contingent upon timely payment. American Express will honor this offer if:

Payment of the full Settlement Amount is received by 7/20/2021
Payments are made in accordance with the payment schedule outlined below:

#DateAmountStatus

1 7/20/2021 $759.56 Scheduled"

I dont think my settlement would be received by them today, so I called the listed number and asked them to cancel the ACH , they said they can't cancel until 48 hours later as it is processing now . So I told them I feel this is a trap. Why would they have an unreasonable condition of "receive by today"?

The person on the phone has a strong accent and is hard to understand, he said dont worry about the date . He said he is:"American express digital" that belongs to American express.

I called the real American express and talked to their customer service , I was told this number isnt on American express directory, but they can see this is the number listed on my American express debt to collect . I asked " so this is your in-house collection ?" She said" no, not in house but give some time , they will forward the payment to us ."

I called my bank too and tried to cancel this ACH transfer, bank told me it is pending, they cant cancel. Because of the possbility I dealt with a scam ,I moved all my money out of bank account except the scheuled 700 plus dollars ,in case the scam wipe out my bank.

I am at a loss at what to do.

Does anyone deal with this email address and phone number before?

What was your outcome with them?

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

dragontears — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 00:10:26 GMT

@icloud987 wrote:
Does anyone have a similar experience with American Express Collection?
My American Express credit card debt has been charged off for nearly a year. I have ignored all their calls, lately I suddenly starting to receive emails from the email address : service@wecanhelp.americanexpress.com for the past two weeks and before that,the email is : Services@credit.americanexpress.com.Their phone number listed on the email is 83363706680

I assumed it is true American express, so I clicked on the payment options listed on the email and made a settlement offer. It took me to a website to pay and didn't allow me to use my discover debit card for some reason, so I had to do an ACH transfer.
After I did that, I received an email, it looks red flag to me because it says this :

"This email confirms that the Settlement Amount and terms listed below represent an offer for full settlement of the Balance Owed on your American Express® account referenced above.
Settlement Amount:
$759.56
As a reminder, this settlement offer is contingent upon timely payment. American Express will honor this offer if:
Payment of the full Settlement Amount is received by 7/20/2021
Payments are made in accordance with the payment schedule outlined below:
#DateAmountStatus
1 7/20/2021 $759.56 Scheduled"

I dont think my settlement would be received by them today, so I called the listed number and asked them to cancel the ACH , they said they can't cancel until 48 hours later as it is processing now . So I told them I feel this is a trap. Why would they have an unreasonable condition of receive by today?
The person on the phone has a strong accent and is hard to understand, he said dont worry about the date . He said he is:"American express digital" that belongs to American express.

I called the American express line and talked to their customer service , I was told this number isnt on American express directory, but they can see this is the number listed on the American express debt to collect . I asked " so this is your in-house collection ?" She said" no, not in house but give some time , they will forward the payment to us ."

I called my bank too and tried to cancel this ACH transfer, bank told me it is pending, they cant cancel. Because of the possbility I dealt with a scam ,I moved all my money out of bank account except the scheuled 700 plus dollars ,in case the scam wipe out my bank.
I am at a loss at what to do.
Does anyone deal with this email address and phone number before?
What was your outcome with them?

I am confused why you think this is a scam?

The timeline in the email is based off of the agreement/payment you already scheduled and that language is there so if you cancel the payment before it goes through the agreement is void.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 00:24:37 GMT

I think it is a scam .

1Because it is not directly from American Express , it is something they claim themselves to be " Amercian express digital "

And their number is different than amercian express number

2 Their language is odd to me . Because they said it is only settled in full if they Receive the payment by today . Shouldnt it if I schedule the payment today or if they receive the payment a few days a week later ?

Because they probably wont be able to receive it today,so they can come back at me and tell me I didn't meet the condition. And I still owe remainng balance instead of being settled in full ?

"As a reminder, this settlement offer is contingent upon timely payment. American Express will honor this offer if:

Payment of the full Settlement Amount is received by 7/20/2021"

3 They constantly change their email address like my post said , and the few times I called them today ,it sounds like foreigner and they answered the call instantly.

I just think all these are red flags .

Only thing kinda calmed down a little bit was the real Amercian Express confirmed with me that they can see this number listed on my debt I owed to Amercian Express.

Thanks.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

tnhomestead — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:09:34 GMT

If American express says your dealing with the correct phone number, ie their collection people, I don't think I would worry too much. As far as email goes, many companies have multiple emails for specific circumstances, heck I have 4 at work myself depending on what I am doing.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:20:27 GMT

Thank you .I hope I am just over thinking. I have never settled debt before , and I wouldnt have done ACH if I didnt assume they are real Amercian Express. I will update in the next few days to see what happens.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

NYC_Fella — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:31:41 GMT

I hope I am wrong, but it sounds like a scam to me. Phone numbers can be spoofed.

But I do believe ACHs, unlike wires, can be reversed by your bank under certain circumstances.

Please let us know how it turns out! Good luck.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:34:56 GMT

Thank you .

"But I do believe ACHs, unlike wires, can be reversed by your bank under certain circumstances."

For this , if I call my bank after the ACH goes through , there is still chance to reverse it ?even if I authorized the ACH tranfer at first (before I suspect them being a scam)

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

NYC_Fella — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:41:10 GMT

@icloud987 wrote:
For this , if I call my bank after the ACH goes through , there is still chance to reverse it ?even if I authorized the ACH tranfer at first (before I suspect them being a scam)

"Because ACH payments don’t involve credit cards, they are not subject to PCI DSS compliance guidelines. NACHA does require all parties to put controls in place to safeguard sensitive financial data. Banking information involving account and routing numbers must be encrypted, and processes should be put in place to verify customer identity. NACHA provides extensive resources to help organizations develop their risk management protocols. When a fraudulent ACHE transaction occurs, it typically falls to the ODFI to resolve the issue. In most cases, the payer must work through their bank or payment processor to contact the originator, sort out the problem, and arrange for a reversal. Since this process can be rather cumbersome, some businesses place a block on their account that requires them to authorize each ACH transaction."

https://www.transcendpay.com/blog/ach-reversal-rules/

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:46:55 GMT

Thanks for the help .

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

Slowlyrebuilding — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:18:06 GMT

From my experiences settling debts it is standard for them to put the due date as the same date you came to the agreement. An ach may take a few days to process but their system will show you made the payment timely.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:34:26 GMT

The timeline is not off. If you pay a credit card on the due date they don't get the money instantly. You get credit the day it's made contingent on the payment clearing. This is no different.

Second, so what if it's a foreign call center? Half the time I call for my Delta cards it goes to a foreign call center.

Lastly, amex confirmed the info is attached to your collections account. Not sure what else you need from them to confirm it's legit. In the last 4 days amex has sent me emails from 4 different addresses. It's normal for a business.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 21:28:14 GMT

Thank you so much for sharing these. It makes me feel less worried. Today I checked my bank, they took the settlement amount, but I haven't received a confirmation email like they promised they would when they process the payment. I still keep receiving invitation emails from them about settling the debt now or pay in full.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

7774x — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 21:40:47 GMT

Legit..Amex..

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

Hellohellosmilesmile — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 11:22:08 GMT

Hey, I have also been recieving these emails and just wanted to follow up and see if this ended up being legit?

thank you!

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

Hellohellosmilesmile — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 11:23:32 GMT

@icloud987 @I messaged above but forgot to tag you, just wanted to know if this ended up being legitimate?

thanks!

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:04:13 GMT

It sounds like a legitimate collection to me.

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

icloud987 — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 14:27:02 GMT

@Hellohellosmilesmile Morning , yes , it was legit .

Re: Urgent Help ! American Express Collection Scam ?

blksheeptrader — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 01:26:59 GMT

service@wecanhelp.americanexpress.com is not a legit American Express email per their website:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/security-center/phishing-scam-awareness/

This is most likely a scam.