Dive Brief:

• American Express is tapping its customers to help stay apprised of the latest fraud trends, an executive said in a Monday interview.
• The credit card giant collects data from conversations with card holders who have been the subjects of fraud attempts or have been fraud victims, said Gerardo Mejia, executive vice president of fraud operations for the bank and credit card issuer.
• "It's a way to learn what's happening," he said. "How are the attacks happening, and how are the bad actors evolving? We need to learn from the customers how much information they share with them, or what was the tactic [scammers] were using, or what are the things that they thought about as they were interacting with the bad actors."

Dive Insight:

All of this information helps the New York-based company build sturdier defenses, Mejia said.

U.S. consumers reported losing $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a 25% increase over 2023. The FTC has not released figures for 2025.

Generative artificial intelligence has the potential to supercharge fraud, according to experts, creating a sense of urgency in the fight to stay ahead of bad actors. 

"Back in the day, big institutions had access to the latest technology," Mejia said. "Now, almost everybody has access to similar technology."

Amex is mostly seeing the same kind of text message, email and romance scams that have bedeviled other payment companies and credit card networks in recent years, he said.

Scammers typically try to build a relationship with an unsuspecting consumer and then trick them into sending money. Now, artificial intelligence can hold a conversation, produce more realistic messages and allow a single fraudster to perpetuate fraud on a widespread scale. 

Banks and payment companies are starting to look for red flags to stop fraudulent transactions before money is lost. Customers sharing their experience helps companies like American Express decide what those red flags are, Mejia said.

In the past couple of years, lawmakers have pressured payment players to better tackle scams and fraud. 

Senators have dragged executives from companies such as Early Warning Services — which operates the peer-to-peer payment service Zelle — in front of congressional committees to grill them on what they are doing to keep users safe. 

Conversations with customers are crucial, Mejia said. "Just as we are trying to innovate, on the other side of the desk, the bad actors are also innovating," he said.

Customer experiences provide a critical data set that Amex can use to spot any changes in the way fraudsters operate and develop countermeasures, Mejia said.