Amex and Identity Fraud

I just received a telephone call from American Express. As I have one of their cards, I guess a call from time to time is something to expect. MBNA do it on a regular basis. I haven’t bought any insurance from them yet, but that doesn’t stop them. As I have dealings with these companies, I am always polite and listen to what they say before telling them that I am not interested. This one, however, was different.

Amex: “Hello, this is American Express and we are calling our customers to advise them about identity fraud…(blah, blah about recording for training purposes blah, blah…). Are you aware that identity theft is Britain’s fastest growing crime and costs £1.3bn a year?”

Me: “Identity theft does not cost £1.3bn a year, it costs in the region of £27million.”

Amex: “Well it costs up to £1.3bn a year…”

Me: “No, it does not. That figure is not correct. It is a fudge.”

Amex: “What?”

Me: “A fudge, they have pulled figures together that have nothing to do with identity theft.”

Amex: “Have you been the victim of this type of crime?”

Me: “No, but I’ve done my research.”

Amex: “So do you have protection in place?”

Me: “Yes, I am very careful with my personal data.”

Amex: “Thankyou for your time.”

Hm… I almost enjoyed that. Going off script can have its entertainment value. I almost feel sorry for the poor operator. Almost. :devil:

I presume they were trying to flog me this.

2 Comments

  1. Heh, something like this happened to my other half once. She was working for Carphone Warehouse when a BT operative randomly called the store on a cold call and proceeded to tell her how TalkTalk was a rip-off, Carphone were all defrauding their customers and tried to convince her about a load of ‘hidden charges’ that didnt exist…the phone was put down so fast she swears there was actually a small sonic boom when she told the operator she had accidentally called a Carphone Branch landline… lbhh

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