Consumer complaint received 2016-02-01
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Complaint:
Early Tuesday morning, I received a " Card Not Present '' email notice from Amex o Merchant was XXXX o Charge was {$490.00} o Card number ending in XXXX was one I did n't recall o Called my wife XXXX asked her what did she buy at XXXX XXXX ( woke her up, that did n't go so well ). Asked her to read me her card numbers, no match. 
Called Amex, spoke with XXXX ID XXXX XXXX told me our card ending in XXXX was canceled in 2013 ; there may be some continuity accounts, I formally disputed the charge, she said they would monitor the pending transaction. Only be concerned if the {$490.00} charge posts. 
I seem to recall the card was canceled due to being notified by Amex replacement cards for my account were being sent to XXXX Florida. We live in Georgia. Called Amex, they said do n't worry we will issue new cards to you. Next day I receive a XXXX tracking number for the cards going to Florida. Called Amex, they said do n't worry that card has already been canceled. Called the local Georgia police department, thought they may be interested notifying Florida police so they could apprehend the Florida criminal ( s ). They could n't be bothered. 
Wednesday evening an email from Amex tells me the disputed charge has posted. 
o I look at my account, there it is, posted to our current XXXX Amex account number Next day, completely unexpected, a hideously ugly shirt, XXXX I would never wear, shows up in our mail box via USPS o Oh XXXX, now we merchandise o Is this related to the nearly {$500.00} charge? My wife XXXX does n't see how it could be, but I 'm suspicious Who in his right mind would pay {$490.00} for a really ugly ( XXXX brand ) shirt? Check out this " XXXX '' website and their prices : XXXX A call to XXXX confirms the {$490.00} charge is for the shirt o Called Amex again, asked for their fraud department. They say this makes no sense as compromised cards should no longer be valid or ported to a new account after 45 days. 
Nonetheless Amex accepted the charge from XXXX off a card canceled in 2013 for {$490.00}. 
o Called XXXX, ( 1 hour and 30 minutes ) they say, due to security reasons, unless we can provide the " G-Mail '' address of the XXXX account associated with our canceled Amex card, ( I have never had a " G-Mail '' address ) they can not allow us to access the account, nor can they authorize a return for the {$490.00} shirt, nor can we cancel that XXXX account. 

The above is not the whole story ... 
There have been numerous other phone calls to Amex and XXXX not to mention requests to escalate this issue to higher ups. 

This is the classic Catch 22. We ca n't cancel the bogus XXXX account because we do n't know the criminal 's email address, and we ca n't get a commitment from Amex that no more charges will post against our Amex account number canceled in 2013. 

Not only that if we cancel our Amex cards now, we will forfeit our XXXX cash back dollars. 

It appears the crooks are now smarter than Amex and XXXX combined. 

Not sure what happens next.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief