takeoffwithmiles

After comparing the image with other emails from REDcard.

I would have expected "Has" instead of "has" in the subject line (based on the other emails with the subject "Your Payment Request Has Been Sent")

Signature does not look right, "Target REDcard by American Express Fraud Protection Team" . (REDcard is offered by American Express, but not their Fraud Protection Team alone.)

Every email so far has some sort of ID at the end.

This analysis may be wrong, as this may be the first email composed by Amex.

dlandz

In denial stage because it makes no sense to find $1,000 deposits suspicious to a card which they allow you to load $5,000 a month
That would be like calling bank withdrawals suspicious if I take out $1,000 every week because I can only withdraw $1,000 every 7 days

SanDiego_Fred

I think it's the rapid load and withdrawal of the same amounts without store spend that would raise the ire of Target/Amex. Not the $1000. They didn't create this product for you to get free bonus points on your credit card. They created this product so you would buy merchandise.

Further this is not a bank account. Your bank hopes to make money on interest from loans you do with them. Target wants to make money by selling you Tide.

illinidad

Agreed the immediate withdrawals are probably the major factor. I'm not in denial that it won't be shutdown, nor that the email as presented is not plausible. I just think there isn't enough evidence yet to back this up. And, it seems a little early in the products lifecycle to start shutdowns. Doesn't a complete shutdown seem like a drastic first step to take, assuming there wasn't a prior warning or two? Amex is pretty ruthless, so they certainly could, but I doubt that target would appreciate the potential negativity that could scare people away from signing up.

On the other hand, this could be a way of making examples out of some MSers before a national rollout.

There simply aren't enough facts yet. Everything else is speculation, so we just have to wait. And hope we're not an example

dlandz

This is an American Express product, co-branded by Target. All of the accounts and terms and conditions are managed and maintained solely by American Express, not by Target. I highly doubt Target has any access to view our account data, just as American Airlines cannot view your AA Credit Card account (I know this is not a credit card, but just relating the two as a co-branded product, maintained by the financial brand).
That would leave American Express as the sole authority to close your account. If you read the terms and conditions, there is a large list of prohibited actions, none of which "loading the card with $1,000" would fall under. There are no terms mentioning that you cannot buy gift cards (in fact there are terms which reference buying gift cards specifically). There are no terms which govern the use of these accounts in the way most FT'ers are using them.
This was an extremely funny troll for whomever perpetrated it to freak so many people out

SanDiego_Fred

I called the 1-800-555-4318 number. It is the Amex fraud department. So that part of the email is correct. I guess a Bing search would have said the same thing.

dlandz

You mean the person who created the fake number didn't think that anyone would search the number? Of course it's easy to put a real Amex number

SanDiego_Fred

I'm confident Target knows when, and how much, I load to the card. It starts at their equipment. I am also sure they know how much I spend in the store with their card. Do they know if I bill pay someone? Or ATM withdraw? Or my current balance? Maybe not. But, I don't know the data sharing agreement Target worked out with Amex.

dlandz

The be more clear, of course they can track what you loaded, and what you used on the card at target stores. I assure you they cannot view all details on your account, nor do they have any authority to close your account.. They are nothing more than a brand name which has a partnership with an American Express product.. Just as AA cannot view your details and transactions on your Citi AA card, nor does any card's retail sponsor. This isn't a new kind of business, it has existed for years.

SanDiego_Fred

Sure. But, I was hoping it was a recording of Darth Vader's Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Now, that would have been a nice touch.

SanDiego_Fred

I honestly don't know. I can only speculate. I think Target has more skin in the game than Amex does and they would certainly negotiate the right to refuse service to certain customers. They are under no obligation to treat all customers the same. (Not talking about federal laws of discrimination.) No shirt, no shoes, no service.

I don't know of any reason why Target couldn't tell Amex to shut down card XXX because that customer does not spend in the store. But, you may be right.

dlandz

Because this is part of Amex's Serve line of products. Amex owns the product. Target is a sponsor. Retailers are creating their own payment system called CurrentC specifically for this reason, so that users can be tracked. If the companies could simply make deals with the card companies to share all of their client's data with them, this would not be happening.

SanDiego_Fred

Ok, now I really am leaving to load an odd number to my card. It's obvious that something is up with these posts as one went missing as well as my reply to it.

And Target, if you are reading this, I am going to buy stuff too. Don't fake cancel my account, please.

dlandz

To clarify my posts about sharing of data, please refer to Regulation P regarding the privacy of consumer financial information
https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/law...6500-1500.html

Julian Brennan

They do know that as it says right there on the receipt after the load...