applied for American Express blue cash preferred

[traveler2005]

Response said to call with code to see if approved or not. ??? Not sure what it means anyone with idea?

[Skye12329]

Call and find out :I
Probably security or needing some answers

[traveler2005]

Called number given, new accounts department but they are close till Tuesday due to holiday

[core]

Sounds suspicious to me.  I hope you applied directly at americanexpress.com.  If you used an offer link from another site I can see about a hundred ways this could go wrong.  Or should I say already has gone wrong.

For example here's how we'd put together the scam, back when I was in the biz:

We have a credit card recommendation site/blog that advertises the juicy signup bonuses when they come out.  Run legit offers for a while.  Or even not, and then pay for the new traffic. Then we publish an offer for BCP with a $750 signup bonus or whatever.  The signup link goes to a site that looks exactly like Amex's site, and even a semi-educated user would not be able to see the difference.  Hint:  americanexpress.com _would_ appear in the URL.  So you'd think you were safe.

But in reality you're snared, and we're capturing everything you entered in the application.  The problem arises though, what do you tell the user when they're done submitting their info?  We can't say approved because they may have posted bogus info and we'd be found out right away.  You also don't want to post a fake denied message, either.  A 'down for maintenance' or 'please call later' message is the usual copout. 

Then again this could all be innocent.    I've just never heard of Amex giving a code and saying to call in.

[traveler2005]

I applied on their web site, when I check application status it does state that it is pending and for the card I applied for.

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@core wrote:

Sounds suspicious to me.  I hope you applied directly at americanexpress.com.  If you used an offer link from another site I can see about a hundred ways this could go wrong.  Or should I say already has gone wrong.

For example here's how we'd put together the scam, back when I was in the biz:

We have a credit card recommendation site/blog that advertises the juicy signup bonuses when they come out.  Run legit offers for a while.  Or even not, and then pay for the new traffic. Then we publish an offer for BCP with a $750 signup bonus or whatever.  The signup link goes to a site that looks exactly like Amex's site, and even a semi-educated user would not be able to see the difference.  Hint:  americanexpress.com _would_ appear in the URL.  So you'd think you were safe.

But in reality you're snared, and we're capturing everything you entered in the application.  The problem arises though, what do you tell the user when they're done submitting their info?  We can't say approved because they may have posted bogus info and we'd be found out right away.  You also don't want to post a fake denied message, either.  A 'down for maintenance' or 'please call later' message is the usual copout. 

Then again this could all be innocent.    I've just never heard of Amex giving a code and saying to call in.

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[core]

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@traveler2005 wrote:
I applied on their web site, when I check application status it does state that it is pending and for the card I applied for.

---

Cool.  Obviously Amex received your application.  We would forward the apps on to the real site via country-specific proxies with an affiliate code appended if there were affiliate bonuses to be made, and if the information passed basic checks.  So the user would get their card either way.  Win-win for everybody.  For a while anyway.

The other way we got people in the first place was infection with malware.  All we had to do was hijack the DNS entry for americanexpress or we could also hook into the browser and do the same thing.

Heheh no seriously I think you are probably fine.  Do let us know how it works out.  I've gotten pending messages from Amex before getting approved&denied but never a code and told to call in.  That's the part that sounds odd to me.  Ah well.  I'm sure it will work out.  Hopefully in your favor!

[traveler2005]

Thank you!

[Kenny]

I think it's probably good news. They usually are good about instant denials! So good luck!

[JoshuaHolySpirit]

Is the code like **********USD?

Maybe that's what they're telling you to quote when you call.

You'll get the ***USD code right after you applied on the screen.

Is that what it is? 

[traveler2005]

Yes