Saturday, October 14, 2006

Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques (Update)

A couple of weeks ago, readers and other sources started reporting counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques. At the time - this was something new - but more and more seem to be showing up over a wide geographical area.

The best way to protect yourself if you receive one of these items is to call the verification number at 1-800-221-7282.

I've even heard that if you verify them and they turn out to be fraudulent - American Express will make good on them. Please note, I can't personally guarantee this, but I was told by an Amercian Express Representative that it was standard procedure.

Here is my previous post on this subject:

Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques

If you have any specific details on how these are being circulated, please leave a comment, or drop me a line at edwarddickson@sbcglobal.net.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you thing about the Government cracking down on on-line gambling?
Take care

Ed Dickson said...

Not sure - but I just read an interesting article about how it was attached to another bill so it would pass.

Anonymous said...

That is interesting also. I would think the on-line gambling measure woud be a seperate bill. Maybe the Government can't tax it?!
I thought that maybe their was alot of fraud going on and the Government wanted to protect consumers.
And then what about all the other gambling venues?
You are also fighting the 'Good Fight' on another front against fraud.
Very comendable.
FTGF!

Ed Dickson said...

My guess is that since odds are always for the house - gambling doesn't present a fraud issue for their users.

Of course - that doesn't mean that a lot of people don't become victims of gambling addictions. And I'm sure the owners of these sites are profiting from that.

There are probably fraudsters who target the owners, but like most owners they probably don't want to talk about it much.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the opinion.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I recieved these american express gift cheques yesterday in the mail. All i have is a post box return address. I do not know where they came from and I do not intend to deposit them in my bank. I may be gulliable on some things but this surely isnt one of them. I did some checking on line and found that american express doesnt sell gift cheques in the denominations that I was sent. Smart me. I checked this stuff out before I made a fool of myself or got myself into trouble. Im glad I did the checking..

Anonymous said...

yep, same here, got 2 gift cheques in the mail yesterday from "Republique Du Benin" (no return address) - looked on the American Express website and found that they aren't even made in the denomination I received. Called American Express and will be sending them the counterfeit cheques along with the envelope they came in.

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess I was one of the stupid ones. I recieved some gift cheques in the mail from someone who I thought was doing a good deed. It was 6 gift cheques in the denomination of $500. I cashed 3 of them and sent 90% of it to Dubae, and after I found out that they were countfeit, I turn the rest in. Turns out that one week later the check returns to my bank and it takes $1500.00 from my account. Is there anything I can do about this. They took the money I pay my bills with! Can somebody help me!

b. sabin said...

I think you are pretty much SOL, anonymous. That scam (I'm assuming you received an e-mail that started this whole thing) is quite a few years old, and I have never heard anyone come away from it anything less than screwed.


Meanwhile, I highly doubt AmEx is making good on fraudulent gift checks. That would be pretty much setting themselves up for further fraud!!

Anonymous said...

You're right this scam (different variations) has been around for years.

The way I read the article was American Express will only make good if someone calls in and verifies the item before they cash it.

They issue you a code for the verification.

No one will get a refund for verifying an item they cashed and failed to verify it beforehand.

Trick is to verify it before you negotiate it!

Anonymous said...

I received 6 $500 american express gift cards today. I
plan to verify their authenticity with the phone
number you provided. THANKS! I sent the scammer, Mr
Dean Murray, an email before I received the checks
telling him I would need to verify before depositing
them into my account. The checks arrived this morning
and I received an email from him saying that I need to
send them back to someplace in florida because his
company does not want to do business with me because I
don't trust them. Do I need to send them back or can I
just toss them? please let me know>

Anonymous said...

I WOULD OF TAKEN THEM TO THE POLICE NO IFS AND OR BUTS ABOUT IT. SOMETHINGS WRONG IF THEY DONT WANT U TO VERIFY, IN FACT I DID THE SAME THING.

Ed Dickson said...

Thanks - take the time to report this activity helps prevent other people from losing their hard earned cash!

Anonymous said...

i am an 18 year old female from yonkers.... i worked for this online company from UK.the company sent me 12 amex travelars gift cheque.i was told to casdh 7 of them i cashed 7 ... i was told to get back to them whe it was cashed to i got back to them they told me to keep 3000 and the rest they were gonna let me know when to cash it... they sent me this address

tolani ashiru
144 badmus street
ikeja lajos,nigeria 23401


now i got backto them i was told to wire the money..... so the commision i made out of it i spent it .....now i was just talking to one of my friends and they were talking to me about whe i was at citi bank and i cashed 7 of them... they also took two forms of id ...... and i have to becareful but from that day i was getting worried because i had amex travelars cheque worth alot of money....so i started researching and today happens that i come across your website.... and read all the blogs and my mouth just drops open......i am so scared .... i dont want to get arrested to something i didnt know about... honestly i am very upset at myself and i should of did more research.....but i really need your help in trying to give me more information and tell me exactly whats going to happen.....i donnot wanna get arrested..... i didnt mean to cause anything like this i dont know what to do please help....

Anonymous said...

i am an 18 year old female from yonkers.... i worked for this online company from UK.the company sent me 12 amex travelars gift cheque.i was told to casdh 7 of them i cashed 7 ... i was told to get back to them whe it was cashed to i got back to them they told me to keep 3000 and the rest they were gonna let me know when to cash it... they sent me this address

tolani ashiru
144 badmus street
ikeja lajos,nigeria 23401


now i got backto them i was told to wire the money..... so the commision i made out of it i spent it .....now i was just talking to one of my friends and they were talking to me about whe i was at citi bank and i cashed 7 of them... they also took two forms of id ...... and i have to becareful but from that day i was getting worried because i had amex travelars cheque worth alot of money....so i started researching and today happens that i come across your website.... and read all the blogs and my mouth just drops open......i am so scared .... i dont want to get arrested to something i didnt know about... honestly i am very upset at myself and i should of did more research.....but i really need your help in trying to give me more information and tell me exactly whats going to happen.....i donnot wanna get arrested..... i didnt mean to cause anything like this i dont know what to do please help....

Anonymous said...

go to www.americanexpress.com/fraudprotection/cheque

This tells what to do if you get one.