Many Amazon and Synchrony Bank customers got a series of communications that there had been 'deposits made' and 'action required' e-mails.
I was one of them. Roughly around 12 PM PT today I got a series of e-mails that had me sweating and believing that somehow, someone had managed to open a line of credit in my name. The very first thing I did was log into my Amazon, Pay Pal account to see if there had been any activity lately... nothing. So next, I Googled a number to call Synchrony Bank to inquire about the e-mails and was unsuccessful at getting through.
After scrolling down my Google search a bit, I came across several posts related to the issue I was having today. Turns out I wasn't alone.
The somewhat blank 'Amazon Creditbuilder [sic] account,' 'action required,' and 'trial deposit' e-mails (or text message) all came from Synchrony Bank and probably had most people online today standing up at their desks.
The good news - both Amazon and Synchrony are aware of the issue and notification error and are currently working to figure out the cause of what happened.
This was definitely NOT what I wanted to hear leading into another shopping season!
Synchrony sent an e-mail out to customers following the error:
At Synchrony we take customer satisfaction very seriously. We are writing to inform you one or more emails or text messages you may have received from Synchrony regarding “a trial deposit has been successfully made” or “action required on your application” on Monday, November 25 was sent in error.
This was an internal error at Synchrony and did not involve a data breach or fraudulent activity.We have confirmed none of your personal data was compromised. We apologize for the error and regret any concerns this may have caused. We are taking action to ensure this cannot happen again.
Please disregard the e-mail or text message and no further action is required.
We sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding.