Consumer complaint received 2020-11-12
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Charged for a purchase or transfer you did not make with the card

Complaint:
Dear Sir or Madame, As you are probably aware, I'm having an issue with AMEX. Fraud occurred. AMEX denies fraud. I want to provide you with an update. 

Since, filing my complaint, I sent AMEX a letter in the mail requesting any and all documents examined during their fraud investigation. 

Also, I have filed complaints with the FTC ( complaint # XXXX XXXX, FDIC ( complaint # XXXX  ), XXXX  ( complaint # XXXX  ), Federal Reserve ( no complaint # ) and the New York Attorney General 's office ( complaint # XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/2020 I received an email from AMEX stating that they were aware of my escalation in regard to the outcome of their investigation. It implied that I made the charges and that I was no longer claiming fraud. I replied to them via email that this is definitely not the case. 

I received a letter in the mail from AMEX dated XX/XX/2020 reiterating that they were not going to give my money back and providing no additional details as to why they had denied my fraud claim. 

I received my XXXX statement from XXXX which shows that I did not make the charges. ( Please see the attached statement. ) I filed police report # XXXX with the XXXX XXXX Police Department. 

Again, charges were made on my AMEX card without my authorization or knowledge by someone other than myself and unknown to me. I was in possession of the AMEX card at the time and have never let anyone else use it. The charges were made to XXXX and AMEX tells me to contact XXXX, but as you can see, there is no record of the charges on my XXXX account. How is this not fraud? 

Please let me know if you require any additional information from me. AdditionallyXXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX number XXXX, said to contact him if need be : XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX I thought that consumers were protected in cases such as these and dont understand why AMEX has denied my claim and refused to credit me. I had a similar situation occur with my bank account earlier in the year and XXXX professionally resolved it to my satisfaction in less than XXXX day. I have been an AMEX customer for several years and never had an issue with them until now. Im sorry to say but I wont be doing business with AMEX anymore. Additionally, I will let everyone I know, and working in a hospital, I know a lot of people, know how disappointed I am about how AMEX has treated me and how much stress this has caused me. I just want my money back and for this to be over with. 

Any help you can provide will be much appreciated. 

Thanks in advance, XXXX XXXX ORIGINAL COMPLAINT : To whom It XXXX Concern, On XX/XX/2020 I was checking my account when I discovered XXXX transactions I hadnt made. As they were pending, I called AMEX customer service immediately to stop the charges. To my surprise, I was told that I had to wait until the charges completed before I could dispute them. So here I am telling AMEX before the money left my account that I found fraud and again the answer was that I needed to let the money be taken before I could dispute. I was shocked, but did what I could in that I asked that the card be cancelled. 

The next day, the charges completed and I called AMEX and filed a fraud case. I disputed XXXX charges in the amount of {$410.00} each made to XXXX XXXX. I let the AMEX representative know that the charges did not appear in my XXXX account as I did not make them. On XX/XX/2020 I completed and returned the fraud declaration requested by AMEX. 

On XX/XX/2020 I called AMEX to check the status of my dispute and ask if anything further was needed from me. I was told that the dispute was still under investigation On XX/XX/2020 I received an email stating that the investigation was complete and that the charges were authorized and my dispute had been declined. I was quite upset. Especially as I had informed AMEX that I didnt make the charges before the money even left my account. I called the AMEX fraud department to find out what was going on. I spoke with XXXX who was unable to provide any further details regarding thee declination of my dispute and suggested that I write AMEX a letter and send it in the mail. I spoke with XXXX supervisor XXXX ( employee number XXXX ) who was also unable to resolve my concern. I asked for contact information for corporate complaints and was denied. Instead, was transferred to XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( employee number XXXX ). XXXX was unable to provide any additional information and suggested that I contact XXXX. I again informed AMEX that the charges do not appear on my XXXX account because I did not make them. I again asked for corporate complaints XXXX told me he didnt have that information. I asked to speak to XXXX boss, XXXX ( employee number XXXX ) and he told me she wasnt there. So I asked to speak to whoever was covering for her and XXXX stated that I would not be allowed to escalate past him. I again asked for corporate complaints and again was denied the information to appeal my dispute further. 

In summary, I found charges in the amount of {$1200.00} that I did not make pending on my account and called to stop them. AMEX told me they couldnt do that and so let someone else spend my money. I disputed the charges as instructed and AMEX is telling me that I made the charges and not giving me my money back. Instead they are referring me to XXXX after I have already informed them that these charges do not appear there. This is not right. I have attempted to resolve this matter with AMEX and been dead-ended. Please help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation