Here we go again – another fraudulent Amex charge
So, not one week after having to call into Amex to dispute a fraudulent credit card charge, I notice on Friday that another one has gone through on my account! This time, it was a $7.99 U.S. monthly subscription service to Netflix.
Once again, I called into Amex (seriously, I should put them on speed dial!). The guy was really helpful and polite. He said that the charge went through on the very first card number I held on the account (which was canceled back in February when I noticed the first fraud charge to my Amex). Every time I call in, I ask how it’s possible for charges to go through on a card that has been canceled (whether it was the main card on the account, or the canceled supplemental card), and nobody is ever able to give me an answer. What is the point of canceling a card, if charges keep going through!?
Anyway, we had a conference call with Netflix who suspended the account that my credit card was tied to, and said they would issue the information to their fraud department, who would then determine the outcome. They said it would take a few business days for them to process the request and go through my information, but by the very next day (Saturday), I had received an e-mail saying that all charges were going to be reversed. And by Monday, the money had been credited back to my card.
Amex has great customer service, and they were able to reverse all 3 fraudulent charges I’ve found on my account this year … but I’m not sure what I can do now to stop this from happening again. It’s frustrating and annoying!
23 Responses to “Here we go again – another fraudulent Amex charge”
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” … not sure what I can do now…”
Switch to MC/VISA, for a period of one year, minimum. Hard-copy letter to AMEX returning all cards.
That is, after all, something that you CAN do. There’s not much you can do about anyone trying to use your AMEX number, but you CAN publicly stop using that number.
yeah this is pretty scary stuff…especially since this card was CANCELLED. i mean, most people think "just cancel the card". I guess it doesnt matter!!!
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Great service or not, I would raise a complaint with Amex to get an explanation. There is clearly something wrong with their processes or systems, maybe it is happening to other people too.
Something is really wrong here!! Raise a stink, it will get sorted out! Or use up your points, quit amex and go elsewhere.
Having a fraudulent charge on your bill is stressful regardless. I had $2300 of fraudelent charges on my master card this month and they were fantastic about it. Still a shock and I feel almost violated that some one so easilly can use my credit card. I would cancel with Amex because it's not worth the stress of continually having to dispute charges.
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That is a little scary, I mean, how is it possible for charges to go through on a card that has been cancelled?
You would think AMEX would be all over this….but alas, it's you unfortunately. A good reminder for me not to get an AMEX card.
Can't AMEX trace where these transactions are coming from?
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Today Amex sent me a note that they would be replacing my corporate Amex card with a new chip based card which would require a pin to operate. I am not sure if it only applies to corporate accounts or consumer accounts as well. But since you have faced this problem more than once, I think you should inquire about getting a chip based card.
That is scary and frustrating for sure. Might be time to find a new credit card provider…
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Since the card was cancelled to begin with, I'm not sure leaving Amex entirely would help anything. They might just be less helpful to someone who is no longer a customer, and it doesn't seem that cancelling a card guarantees that it won't be used.
Superplexa, the old card is still connected to Krytsal's current AMEX account. Thats why she is getting this issue in the first place. This is a bug in the AMEX system. They better fix it …
My bet is that krystals isnt the only person with this problem.
Did they have an answer on how come they allowed charges to go through on a cancelled card? That seems completely crazy.
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In my opinion, I would canx my account and find a new company. If they cannot give you an explanation to why a charge from a canx account number made it to your new account, I would find another company to give my business. Sounds like too much of a hassle to continue to do business with them. Does the benefits outweigh the hassles?
Martilyo
Twitter @pennies2dollars http://martilyo.wordpress.com/
cancelling the card may help with the fraudulant charges but how will that affect your credit rating…if it's a long standing card you may want to keep it and raise a signifiant stink with amex.
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Again!? This must be getting really annoying for you to deal with. Have you considered tweeting about it? I've heard about lots of people who've had issues with companies and then tweeted about it. The companies seem more attentive when people do that. It might be worth a shot; otherwise I don't really see many other options. Even if you closed your account with them, it could still happen and then they would find a way to try and bill you. Seriously messed up situation. Sorry you have to deal with this. :-(
Jen
My recent post Buried Alive: digging yourself outta debt (step 3)
another charge, on a cancelled card with no explanation? That's insane. I'm shocked. I hope you get some answers.
So…when are you cancelling your card?
My recent post More on Progress
Hmmm makes me wonder if the reason they have such great costumer service because of all the calls they get on a daily regarding fraud?
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You might want to also report this to the police. If they are using a service like netflix,they also gave a name and an address.Perhaps the police will track them down.
my instant reaction was OMG NOT AGAIN…
I would have them cancel the primary card and any supplemental cards again… possibly consider cancelling the card completely because having worked for a credit card company I must say this is insanity that it's happened twice now. TOTaLLY NOT COOL.
My recent post My money mentality
Its not that shocking! Amex cards are not like Visa cards. They are designed to always be connected to that account. That is even if you cancel the card the number can still be used because the account its connected to is still active. Think of it this way if you bought annual travel insurance with Amex and you put it on your Amex card. Then years later you changed your card from a Gold rewards Amex to a Platinum Charge card. The insurance would still auto renew even though its a different card and a different number because its all connected to the same account!! Think of it this way you have keys to a house, but the key means nothing it just a small mettle object but its what that key opens that's important.
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I experienced this with a VISA card a few years ago. Someone used the card number to pay for an ISP (wrong expiry and name but that's for another day). After 4 months in a row of disputing the charge, I solved this problem on the 4th try. The best action you can take is to call the Amex lhotine and report the card stolen. If they don't accept that (because the physical card has not been stolen), tell them you lost the card. Make sure you let them know, that they are responsible for any further charges as you have redirected all recurring transactions to another card. After this discussion, I never had another problem with that card.
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If they have a Netflix DVD plan, then Netflix will have their address! I'm a pretty big fan of AMEX, I trust them, but I should start pay more attention to my charges… Good luck!
I think at this point I would take my business elsewhere regardless of "good customer service" when you call. It almost seems like they hope you won't notice charges that are not yours on your account.
Most credit card companies have a caveat that if you don't dispute charges within 60 days you are stuck – if for some reason you would become indisposed due to illness or injury, you could end up being stuck with those charges.
I used to have the same problem with AMEX, along with sending payments not being posted promptly and resulting in late fees and interest rate increases once I started carrying a higher balance and not paying off every month.