Consumer complaint received 2022-09-10
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Trouble using the card
Sub-issue: Trouble using the card to spend money in a store or online

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : My employer gave me ( 2 ) {$100.00} American Express Prepaid Cards. I know the individual that orders the gift cards and she specified that they were sent directly from American Express to the office and she opened and delivered the packages of cards herself. These cards did not spend time on a shelf in a store where they could have been skimmed. 
I was financially okay at that time and saved them until I needed them, in my house in a secured location. 

XX/XX/XXXX approx XXXX : I need them. I went to check the balance and BOTH of the cards have been cleared of funds!! 

Details : The first of the 2 cards had it's funds loaded to a XX/XX/XXXX app based out of XXXX, TX. ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, - ( XXXX ) {$20.00} charges ) and an online gambling platform called, " XXXX '' ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, - XXXX 1 ) XXXX charge & ( 1 ) XXXX charge ). The total fraud on this prepaid card is {$99.00}. 

The second of the 2 cards was used to buy something from a paypal vendor called " XXXX '', most likely associated with XXXX or XXXX. ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, - ( 1 ) {$93.00} ). The total fraud on this prepaid card is {$93.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX approx. XXXX : Attempted to call the company using the number listed on the card ( XXXX ) and received a recording that stated " this line is disconnected. '' I then looked on XXXX to find a valid number. I tried a second phone number from XXXX ( XXXX ) and received a recording that stated " Thank you for calling American Express. Goodbye. '' I found a third number ( XXXX ) that asked me to enter my card number. After entering the card number, the recording said, " Thank you for calling American Express. Goodbye. '' At this time I looked further on XXXX and saw posts from others online that were having the exact same issue as I am in XX/XX/XXXX, except with cards that had THOUSANDS of dollars in fraudulent charges. XXXX of the posters recommended reporting American Express to the FTC, which directed me to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

XXXX PM - I called another number that was found on XXXX ( XXXX ) and was able talk to a representative named XXXX, who was very helpful! The representative stated that " this is not the correct number to call. '' She took down my name and phone number just in case the call was disconnected like the 3 calls previous. She gave me the number XXXX. She then transferred my call to that number internally. 
XXXX XXXX  - I waited for a representative. 
XXXX XXXX  - The representative responded and looked at the account balance and transactions. She stated that the transaction was already completed and the funds have successfully left the card. She then stated that there is nothing that we ( American Express ) can do. When I asked if I had to open a fraud claim she stating " No, they don't do that here. '' When asked to clarify if they have to report defrauded customers internally or externally, she said, " No, they don't have to report anything. There's nothing that we can do. '' The total fraud from both cards is {$190.00}. When I see the stories from others online, I realize that I am fortunate to have only lost just under {$200.00} since others have lost literally thousands of dollars from this company 's negligence in protecting their servers. All of the transactions from reports that I've seen online from various forums are from XX/XX/XXXX. 

The only two places where these ( 2 ) cards and their account specifics existed were at American Express on their servers and on the physical card that was in my house, in a secured location. The only way that this information could have been lifted is if American Express had a security breach of their server which caused their customers card numbers, security codes and other card info to be leaked to fraudsters.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation