Consumer complaint received 2022-07-22
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: MS
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I mistakenly walked into a gentlemen 's club with a business associate in XXXXXXXX XXXX where my American Express XXXX XXXX was fraudulently charged seven ( 7 ) times for an unconscionable amount of money ; {$180000.00}. American Express has informed me that after investigating the supporting documents provided by the merchant that these transactions are valid. This elaborate scam was orchestrated by 10 employees of this establishment in XXXXXXXX XXXX - 4 " entertainers '', 4 " host ( s ) '', 1 manager, and 1 witness by providing American Express a receipt/ invoice packet completed with forged signatures, forged initials, excessive tips amounts not in my handwriting, smudged thumbprints, unknown service fees to the establishment, and a photo suggesting I signed off on this egregious act. 

Ive call the merchant ; however, they are not willing to cooperate. 

When I left this establishment, I immediately reported my credit card compromised to American Express after noticing the charges on my American Express app through my cell phone. A customer service representative informed me their fraud team will review the transactions and provide feedback. At this juncture, I was confident American Express would know these transactions to be fraudulent. Three weeks later, I received a call from their Fraud department stating that since I was on the premises and I authorized one ( 1 ) transaction before these seven ( 7 ) unauthorized subsequent transactions that I would need to dispute these charges with their dispute department. As stated above, the dispute team has elected to deem these charges as valid due to the forged documentation that the merchant has provided. 

My next step was to file a police report then hire a local attorney to protect my civil interest in XXXX  ; which I probably should have done both sooner. A call to two ( 2 ) reputable law firms in the XXXX XXXX area directed me to an attorney that currently has cases on-going against this same merchant for the same type of scam. In addition, a discussion with local law enforcement has reveal over XXXXhree ( 3 ) dozen victims have experienced a similar incidents by this merchant the majority being American Express XXXX cardholders. In fact, I believe there are five ( 5 ) American Express cardholders filing civil complaints against this merchant. Further, local law enforcement under the direction of the State Attorney Generals Office XXXX  XXXX has subpoenaed my American Express Account information to investigate these transactions. Ive informed American Express of my discoveries with their merchant ; however, they stated there are loopholes in their merchant agreement whereby the receipts/ invoices the merchant provided gains the appearance to their validity according to their internal procedures. 

I envision all the American Express cardholders which have dealt with this merchant and American Expresss position on their scam have experienced financial harm and emotional distress to a high degree ; myself included. 

My question to American Express with the support of the CFPB, is when does a credit card company have a fiduciary responsibility to protect their cardholder ( s ) from a merchant that uses deceptive and abusive business practices against their cardholders? 

I feel that if a credit card company has a reoccurring scenario/ problem with a merchant against its cardholders, you do not allow them to accept your credit cards or you allow your cardholders to chargeback the dispute amounts. 

I look forward to XXXX XXXX response and the assistance of the CFPB.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation