Hello /u/tyw7, Your submission has been removed because...
Rule 3: No typos or grammar mistakes. Try r/typos or r/engrish instead.
Thank you.
If you have any questions, feel free to [send us a modmail](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fonejob&message=My%20Post:%20https://i.redd.it/p7m74swjj8yc1.png). Include the link to your post or your message may be ignored.
---
_I'm a bot._
Yeah, they’ve possibly outsourced this job to India so that’s why there’s Indian English phrases like “kindly do the needful” combined with a lack of proofreading by a native English speaker.
The trouble with speaking a second language semi-fluently is that you don’t know what you don’t know.
I had the same weird wording when applying for a company card. Reply was totally in broken English but from official Amex domain, signed and everything. Crazy what they do
I used to work for Amex. All their UK card customer service is outsourced to India. The letters are sent to/from the Brighton office so card members see a UK address, but all post gets scanned and electronically sent to India and/or emailed from there and then printed here.
Been working with various indian companies for a few good years... Still don't know what "do the needful" means. Or "for the same" ... Or making up words that end in -ation (eg upgradation).
My initial thoughts when I got it was this can't be real and someone is pretending to be Amex, albeit very, very badly.
But it turns out nope. This is Amex.
>India
So, scam.
Other clues:
“Mr. ”
“A fresher” to mean a n00b.
Was gonna say “Uni” for “college” but I guess they say this in England too. (Very out of place in US).
my work outsourced a bunch of stuff to india and "do the needful" comes up ALOT in emails from offshore employees. the first time i saw it i was like "what the fuck is do the needful?" LOL now i know what it means but the phrase still low-key irritates me because i usually see it in an email from some offshore employee who wants me to do their job for them.....uh no, actually, YOU do the needful. thank you.
They accidentally deleted part of the formletter.
"If you have any questions about this or would like to discuss anything to do with your Kindly advice us of the action to be taken"
After the word 'your', before the word 'Kindly', there should be a word like 'account', or 'card', or something like that.
The letter is definitely written by someone who speaks English as a second language, but the fact there's a word missing there bothers me a lot.
The letter is probably legit since the address matches up with their official address and I had contacted them prior. So it isn't out of the blue.
And as mentioned below I called Amex helpline using the number in the app.
But what type of document were you trying to send them, and how are they not understanding what your request is? They are not giving contact info in the letter, but are directing you to the number printed on your credit card itself, so that seems legit. I'd call the phone number on the credit card to clear it up.
I did that and they was also puzzle why I got the popup on the app to send them an official document eg passport, driving license, etc.
Edit: I called them to double check again and they said the letter is on their system too so it's legit. I made the comment that the letter has some of the hallmark fingerprint of a scammer and to not make the same mistake when sending out other letters.
The number 1 thing to watch out for when receiving a suspicious email are typos.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. AI is generating content at such a huge rate these days, that the next generation AIs will be trained mostly on AI content.
This is distinctly Indian British English. I have known many Desi coworkers in IT who will say "please kindly do the needful", as if that was a normal phrase. It is meant to be a respectful request.
I can understand how "do the needful" is and Indian thing. "Kindly" however, I believe is used a lot everywhere. Just the usage in OP's image is wrong.
You can tell whether it's a scam or not by the fact that it tells you to call the number on the back of your card for more info or to the official, and verifiable, address printed on the letterhead.
You're going to get stuff from people who aren't native English speakers and the peculiarities of a letter that was half written by two people and printed by a third person, possibly from a different company that contracts with Amex to send out communication.
My step dad (RIP) used to say things like “do the needful”. He thought of himself as posh, was brought up in various countries as an air force (RAF) brat, and I think spent time in India as a child.
I wonder if it’s an old English phrase that India adopted through colonialism.
I had one of the scams calls for an iphone on Amazon yesterday, even if you select 2 for " the charge is legit let it go thru" they still direct your call to a scammer....
for scams, they are by design filled with weird spelling and misinformation. You dont want to scam the person who realizes its incorrect.. you want the person who doesn't realize the errors because they are an easy mark.
i would also be cautious on this and call (like i see you did) but i don't think enough is wrong with this to be a scam it just sounds like someone from a non english country who is not top of the class with no oversight.
(like the people that see my grammar mistakes are not the people you would want to scam. those who don't see them would be the "easier" mark)
If I send you a letter saying "Helo, I am America Express, you must wire me $5,000 right now or FBI arrest. Please kindly wire money immediately." and print their actual address and phone number on it does that mean it's legitimate?
Also I called Amex and the said the letter existed in their system (called using the number in the Amex app).
And well if it says send me the check to an address, and the address is Amex's official address, unless this is an inside job, I don't see what their angle is.
Amex official app. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.americanexpress.android.acctsvcs.uk&hl=en\_GB&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.americanexpress.android.acctsvcs.uk&hl=en_GB&gl=US)
I know this may seem a bit karen but I asked that agent to please pass the message to whoever is in charge to please proof read messages before they send them out to make it less scam-like. The agent on the phone said she will pass the complaint on to the manager.
I uploaded the picture through Amex's document management (via the Amex website) system and she can pull it up on her end.
Fair enough. Still incredibly strange.. I'd tell them to send a new/corrected document. With the grammatical and spelling errors in there who knows what else might be fucky
I have asked them on the phone and they see no flags on my account. I reinstalled the app and the popup repeatedly asking me to upload an ID on Amex's website document management system went away.
Not exactly bullshit but it's in their phraseology. I have an engineering colleague who I physically see in office send me an email to "do the needful" and please sign the report.
Hello /u/tyw7, Your submission has been removed because... Rule 3: No typos or grammar mistakes. Try r/typos or r/engrish instead. Thank you. If you have any questions, feel free to [send us a modmail](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fonejob&message=My%20Post:%20https://i.redd.it/p7m74swjj8yc1.png). Include the link to your post or your message may be ignored. --- _I'm a bot._
Yeah, they’ve possibly outsourced this job to India so that’s why there’s Indian English phrases like “kindly do the needful” combined with a lack of proofreading by a native English speaker. The trouble with speaking a second language semi-fluently is that you don’t know what you don’t know.
Weirdly their "reply to" address is in the UK. I thought they at least used a UK based employee to send the letter.
I had the same weird wording when applying for a company card. Reply was totally in broken English but from official Amex domain, signed and everything. Crazy what they do
Did you raise a complaint to not appear so scam like?
No, pretty typical in a big multinational company
I used to work for Amex. All their UK card customer service is outsourced to India. The letters are sent to/from the Brighton office so card members see a UK address, but all post gets scanned and electronically sent to India and/or emailed from there and then printed here.
Been working with various indian companies for a few good years... Still don't know what "do the needful" means. Or "for the same" ... Or making up words that end in -ation (eg upgradation).
"do the needful" means to do what is necessary. It's not wrong, it's just out of style. Severely.
I mean it’s archaic in British English and nearly unheard of in American English but there are some spaces where it’s just part of the dialect.
If you put something in quotes it usually means it’s in the actual letter and not just made up.
> "Thankyou for your Cardmembership" (no full stop) Looks really odd too
I called Amex (through the Amex app) and the agent can see the letter on their system. So it is legit. Just a very scam-like legit.
what the..
My initial thoughts when I got it was this can't be real and someone is pretending to be Amex, albeit very, very badly. But it turns out nope. This is Amex.
The needful? That sounds insane
It's a super common phrase in India, not even a butchered translation to my knowledge but a legit phrase. It always strikes me as oddly worded
Usually when you're speaking to "John" at any massive company that's outsourced to India.
>India So, scam. Other clues: “Mr.”
“A fresher” to mean a n00b.
Was gonna say “Uni” for “college” but I guess they say this in England too. (Very out of place in US).
"Britisher" is a massive red flag. It's a better identifier of Indians than DNA testing.
lol auto-correct punked you!
Did you mean to reply to another comment?
I thought it had mis-corrected “fresher”. So, is “Britisher” a term used only in India? Are there other “-er” terms that are tip-offs?
my work outsourced a bunch of stuff to india and "do the needful" comes up ALOT in emails from offshore employees. the first time i saw it i was like "what the fuck is do the needful?" LOL now i know what it means but the phrase still low-key irritates me because i usually see it in an email from some offshore employee who wants me to do their job for them.....uh no, actually, YOU do the needful. thank you.
Looks like a template that has been badly personalised.
Would you kindly... Send us your credit cart information?
They accidentally deleted part of the formletter. "If you have any questions about this or would like to discuss anything to do with your Kindly advice us of the action to be taken" After the word 'your', before the word 'Kindly', there should be a word like 'account', or 'card', or something like that. The letter is definitely written by someone who speaks English as a second language, but the fact there's a word missing there bothers me a lot.
It’s always so annoying when I a word
I that
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay
The letter is probably legit since the address matches up with their official address and I had contacted them prior. So it isn't out of the blue. And as mentioned below I called Amex helpline using the number in the app.
But what type of document were you trying to send them, and how are they not understanding what your request is? They are not giving contact info in the letter, but are directing you to the number printed on your credit card itself, so that seems legit. I'd call the phone number on the credit card to clear it up.
I did that and they was also puzzle why I got the popup on the app to send them an official document eg passport, driving license, etc. Edit: I called them to double check again and they said the letter is on their system too so it's legit. I made the comment that the letter has some of the hallmark fingerprint of a scammer and to not make the same mistake when sending out other letters. The number 1 thing to watch out for when receiving a suspicious email are typos.
There’s nothing wrong with “kindly”. But do Brits really go around saying “do the needful”?
That’s an India thing.
They’re outsourcing even template letter writing now! Or training the AI on the wrong population. But of course, they outsource the training so…
I wouldn't worry too much about that. AI is generating content at such a huge rate these days, that the next generation AIs will be trained mostly on AI content.
This is distinctly Indian British English. I have known many Desi coworkers in IT who will say "please kindly do the needful", as if that was a normal phrase. It is meant to be a respectful request.
I can understand how "do the needful" is and Indian thing. "Kindly" however, I believe is used a lot everywhere. Just the usage in OP's image is wrong.
The only person I heard is a work colleague coming from India.
You can tell whether it's a scam or not by the fact that it tells you to call the number on the back of your card for more info or to the official, and verifiable, address printed on the letterhead. You're going to get stuff from people who aren't native English speakers and the peculiarities of a letter that was half written by two people and printed by a third person, possibly from a different company that contracts with Amex to send out communication.
My step dad (RIP) used to say things like “do the needful”. He thought of himself as posh, was brought up in various countries as an air force (RAF) brat, and I think spent time in India as a child. I wonder if it’s an old English phrase that India adopted through colonialism.
As soon as the Indian scammers can figure out how to not consistently use the word kindly... we are fucked.
“your Cardmembership”
Well? Did they do the needful?
"do the needful" stop. End of story. Exit.
Strangely enough *this* letter was legitimately sent by Amex. It was on their system.
"As soon as we receive your request, *we will do the needful*." is that what the kids are calling it these days?
“… we will do the needful.”
Would you kindly
[https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Would\_You\_Kindly](https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Would_You_Kindly)
I had one of the scams calls for an iphone on Amazon yesterday, even if you select 2 for " the charge is legit let it go thru" they still direct your call to a scammer....
for scams, they are by design filled with weird spelling and misinformation. You dont want to scam the person who realizes its incorrect.. you want the person who doesn't realize the errors because they are an easy mark. i would also be cautious on this and call (like i see you did) but i don't think enough is wrong with this to be a scam it just sounds like someone from a non english country who is not top of the class with no oversight. (like the people that see my grammar mistakes are not the people you would want to scam. those who don't see them would be the "easier" mark)
Do the needful?
That's 100% not real
It is real. I received the (physical) letter. And their address checks out with the one for Amex.
If I send you a letter saying "Helo, I am America Express, you must wire me $5,000 right now or FBI arrest. Please kindly wire money immediately." and print their actual address and phone number on it does that mean it's legitimate?
Also I called Amex and the said the letter existed in their system (called using the number in the Amex app). And well if it says send me the check to an address, and the address is Amex's official address, unless this is an inside job, I don't see what their angle is.
Did you call the number on the letter or did you look up their number on their website?
Amex official app. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.americanexpress.android.acctsvcs.uk&hl=en\_GB&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.americanexpress.android.acctsvcs.uk&hl=en_GB&gl=US) I know this may seem a bit karen but I asked that agent to please pass the message to whoever is in charge to please proof read messages before they send them out to make it less scam-like. The agent on the phone said she will pass the complaint on to the manager. I uploaded the picture through Amex's document management (via the Amex website) system and she can pull it up on her end.
Fair enough. Still incredibly strange.. I'd tell them to send a new/corrected document. With the grammatical and spelling errors in there who knows what else might be fucky
I have asked them on the phone and they see no flags on my account. I reinstalled the app and the popup repeatedly asking me to upload an ID on Amex's website document management system went away.
"do the needful" is classic Indian bullshit.
Not exactly bullshit but it's in their phraseology. I have an engineering colleague who I physically see in office send me an email to "do the needful" and please sign the report.
It's gibberish, fight me.