Scam of the day – March 5, 2024 – American Express Data Breach

by | Mar 4, 2024 | Scam of the day

Yesterday American Express notified its customers and state authorities that credit card information of its customers had been compromised in a third-party data breach of a credit card merchant processor used by numerous merchants to process credit cards had been hacked and account numbers, names and other credit card information had been stolen.  It should be emphasized that this was not a data breach of any American Express controlled systems. American Express is advising its customers to review their accounts for any suspicious behavior.  American Express also suggested that its customers sign up for instant notifications about fraud alerts through the American Express mobile app.

Here is a link to the notice American Express is sending to affected customers: https://www.mass.gov/doc/assigned-data-breach-number-2024-210-american-express-travel-related-services-company-inc/download

TIPS

So what else should you do if you were a victim of this or any other data breach?

Freezing your credit is something everyone should do.  It is free and easy to do.  In addition, it protects you from someone using your identity to obtain loans or make large purchases even if they have your Social Security number.  If you have not already done so, put a credit freeze on your credit reports at all of the major credit reporting agencies.  Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:
 Regularly monitoring your credit reports for indications of fraud is also something we all should do.  The three major credit reporting agencies now provide free weekly access to your credit reports so you can monitor your credit reports easily on your own.  Here is the only link to use to get your free credit reports.https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action
Some scammers have websites that appear to offer “free” credit reports, but if you read the fine print, you often may find that you have signed up for unnecessary services.

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#ameicanexpressdatabreach