Consumer complaint received 2017-11-10
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
InXX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX XXXX stating she was attempting to collect on a debt on behalf of American Express and threatened to file a lawsuit against me if I did not resolve the matter. Naturally, fearing a lawsuit, I agreed to pay the debt over a period of 2 months. However, recently, on XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by XXXX with XXXX XXXX XXXX  stating she was reaching out to me in regards to the same American Express debt. She stated the debt was fro XX/XX/XXXXin the amount of {$7600.00} and she too indicated the matter needed to be resolved and threaten to file a lawsuit in my jurisdiction if it was not. I informed her that this debt had already been settled and that I would review my records and contact her to provide her with the information but she did not care. She was rude and right out abusive and continued to threat litigation stating it was not the same debt. However, I never had more than one account with American Express. I was able to get off the phone with her and reviewed my records. Having the contact information for XXXX I attempted to contact her but when I tried to call her the line would ring and then sound busy. I then decided to email her and of course the email was returned undeliverable, and it was then that I realized I may have been a victim of a scam by XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX and that the American Express debt may still be outstanding so I reached back out to XXXX and she confirmed that it appeared I was a victim of a scam but and that regardless I had to resolve the debt she was collecting on behalf of American Express. I was so distraught seeing as I had paid {$3400.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX and the debt was still outstanding. Therefore, fearing the immediate filing of a lawsuit by XXXX XXXX XXXX, I set up a payment plan with XXXX and her colleague, XXXX, to settle this debt. They instructed me to contact my bank and file a claim for the payments paid to XXXX XXXX XXXX but in the meantime scheduled payments to resolve what would be the remaining balance once my bank returned the $ 3K+ and I in turn remitted those funds to XXXX XXXX XXXX. However, because I realized I was initially scammed I immediately thought this was another scam and reached out to American Express directly and they informed me that the account had transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX not XXXX XXXX XXXX. It turns out the original American Express account has been sold and transferred to at least 4 companies. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX transferred it to XXXX who then transferred it to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and they in turn transferred it to XXXX XXXX. Each time I contacted the new account holder I was provided with the phone number and that is how I have been able to determine who actually is the account holder. Unfortunately, I have been trying to reach the last know account holder, XXXX XXXX to determine if they sill hold the account or the new holder information to determine if XXXX XXXX XXXX is indeed the current account holder but I have been unsuccessful. Needless to say, I had to cancel my debit card and tried to file a claim with my bank for the monies paid to XXXX XXXX XXXX ; however, due to the lapse in time, I was not able to successfully file a claim over the phone ; the claim has to be filed via mail. Either way, my bank cancelled my debit card and XXXX XXXX XXXX was unsuccessful in debiting the second payment of {$560.00} ; the initial payment was for {$1000.00} against my XXXX but I have also cancelled that card and filed a claim for that charge and the charge by XXXX XXXX XXXX ( I used my XXXX to pay a portion to them as well ). Seeing as the payment did not go through XXXX contacted me again today, XX/XX/XXXX regarding the payment. I informed her that per her instructions I contacted my bank and cancelled my card, which is why today 's payment did not go through. She then questioned how my bank planned on refunding me the monies from my claim if my card was cancelled, which was odd to me because the cancellation of my card is irrelevant to funds being potentially credited back to my account due to a fraud claim so I proceeded to ask her relevant questions that would assist me with determining if she and the company she worked for were legitimate. She stated the account holder was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and she was collecting on their behalf. She also provided me with XXXX 's NY license number as XXXX but was unable to provide me with their address or phone number or an account number linked to me so that I can provide with my deposit yet she advised she would reach out to XXXX to contact me with this information and also request that she send the documents regarding the settlement that she was to send me yesterday. In the meantime, she stated that I needed to go to my bank and deposit today 's payment to XXXX 's account and coincidentally enough they held an account with my same bank. After getting off the phone with her I reached out to my bank to confirm the account information but of course they were unable to provide me with any information. At this point I am seeking information from XXXX XXXX regarding this debt. Do they currently hold this debt or if it was transferred to who was it transferred? I am fearful that I am being scammed again but am also fearful of being sued if it turns out that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is the true holder of the debt and XXXX XXXX XXXX is collecting on their behalf. With that said, I would also like for XXXX XXXX XXXX to validate the debt.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation