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Thread: received a call from an "investigator" regarding fraud accusations - is he a fake?

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    Default received a call from an "investigator" regarding fraud accusations - is he a fake?

    hi all,

    my first thread few months back was about an fraud accusation, and yet again, i'm posting another one but with a slight twist....

    last week, we received a huge mail envelope from American Express regarding fraudulent credit card usage at our small convenience store. inside were about ~35 fraud accusations from one customer within the past 2 months! most were phone orders, but looking back at our receipts, he did purchase in-person a few times. a worker seems to vaguely remember his face but isn't too sure.

    here's where it gets a bit weird - today, we received a phone call. apparently, it was an investigator/someone involved with the police (i don't know the exact title he gave - i didn't take the call). he asked if our store cameras were working well, which we said were fine. then, he asked if we were having credit card usage problems with an individual by the name of ______ (the name on the AmEx letters) and we said "yes."

    then this "investigator" said this guy has been doing this to businesses all over the neighborhood, including the restaurant down the block, bakery, etc. he said he'd be visiting us for further questions in the afternoon. he was a no-show. it was a private call so we can't even track the number. we should've asked for info about him to make sure this wasn't fake but too late now.

    being pretty naive, we initially assumed this was legit. when the person never showed up, then we realized this may have been the fraudulent user himself making the call.

    if so, is it possible this guy may be up to no good? why did he ask about our cameras? to see if his face may have been captured? to do worse if our cameras are in fact not functioning properly?

    what can we do at this point? it seems like a petty issue so we can't even report it to the police. just do nothing? not gonna lie, i find it a bit creepy in a way.

    does anyone have any advice for this situation? please help....thanks for reading.
    Last edited by Acee; 03-28-2012 at 10:46 PM.

  2. #2
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    First I would stop discussing any security or financial transaction over the phone with a stranger. In those case were you must discuss the transactions, get the persons name and business, then YOU look up the number and call them back. If they provide the number they could easily give you the name of a legit business but a fake number.

    Second, I would contact American Express directly. Ask them if they are investigating cases of fraud concerning your store and if they even sent the envelope.

    Next I would contact your police department fraud department. See if there are any scams in the area that match this profile.
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    Definitely contact the police and American Express. I would also second Neal's advice to not discuss business like this over the phone without verifying to whom you are speaking and that they are legitimate. Same goes for e-mails. Scams are very sophisticated these days. We get phishing e-mails all the time trying to hack our accounts. You have to be very careful.

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