American Express Did Not Send This Email

GMail is pretty good at flagging spam and phishing emails, and sends them to the Spam folder automatically. However, occasionally one will slip through, so pay attention grasshopper. This one was caught in my spam folder; but, I like to briefly scan the folder for false positives. In any event, this one has all the hallmarks of a phishing scam. First, it leads with "you have a deposit to your account". American Express, or any card company for that matter, very rarely gives me money, and usually only after I have made some sort of complaint and gone through some bureaucratic hoops. So, free money doesn't just appear in your account. Sorry, but reality bites. Second, the diction in this email, while okay to some eyes, doesn't ring true to the American speaking voice. Example: "we require you update your American Express account as a means to accept your new merchant payment." I am not a "merchant". I am a customer. "as a means to accept" is grammatically awkward diction. "we require you update", instead of "to update". And, when updating an account is required for some reason, never click on the link in the email. Go to the site from your browser. Third, using a Capital letter in the middle of a sentence would never get by an AmEx editor: "For security reasons, The payment has been placed on hold". Fourth, identifying the account as ending in: XXXX. Please. How did you credit my account if you don't know the last four digits? I haven't even discussed the To and From problems in the email. Finally, if AmEx is going to give me a credit, they will just credit the account, and explain the credit on the account page. There are other clues; but, hopefully you get the picture. Read those emails carefully. Never click on a link in an email; especially one that tells you are going to get money, or promises an inheritance from an uncle in Africa. Be careful out there. Jeez.