Consumer complaint received 2024-09-26
Product: Prepaid card — Gift card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees — 
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (NC)

All of the following information was provided to InComm Financial Services , Inc. ( " InComm '' ) via email and multiple phone calls. Diligence from their investigation was requested and never received. Instead, I have been told repeatedly that I made these charges, and that I should contact the vendors ( which is impossible, as the " vendors '' have no websites, email addresses, or phone numbers, as will be detailed below ; if InComm discovered this contact information in their " investigation, '' they refuse to provide it ).

The following information was also provided to Incomm via email ( XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX ( and multiple times since ) : On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the XXXX XXXX dollar ( {$500.00} ) XXXX gift card in question ( the " Gift Card '' ) as administered by InComm Financial Services , Inc. via USPS Priority Mail shipment ( tracking information available upon request ), as a gift from a friend. The Gift Card was purchased by the aforementioned friend as a part of their XXXX Membership Rewards program. The card ( and I want to emphasize this point ) has never left my home office since receipt on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to make an online purchase with the Gift Card from national online retailer XXXX for the amount of {$87.00}. The transaction was declined ( though it appears that XXXX attempted to run the Gift Card again on XX/XX/XXXX ), and upon notice of this declination, I attempted to make the same purchase with XXXX the following week several times, but was declined. 

Confused, I logged into the XXXX XXXX gift card balance portal and was immediately angered and dismayed to find that the entire Gift Card balance of XXXX XXXX dollars ( {$50000.00} ) had been drained on the same single day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) within one single minute ( XXXX AM - XXXXXXXX XXXX EST ; yes, that is XXXX minutes past midnight, when business locations of repute would ostensibly all be closed ), by three ( 3 ) entities located across three ( 3 ) cities which are ( 1 ) hundreds of miles from my location ( XXXX, NC ) and ( 2 ) at their furthermost points, XXXX miles from each other. 

Again ( and I want to reiterate ), all of these were on the same day, over XXXX XXXX miles apart, in states that I do not live in ( nor was I visiting or in any way near at the time ). I immediately disputed the charges with InComm on XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. 

XXXX rejected my claim on XX/XX/XXXX and again on XX/XX/XXXX ( after XXXX received the below critical information ). All follow ups for information have been ignored. 

Before breaking down my own findings, as a matter of formality : ( 1 ) I did not make these purchases/authorize these charges ; ( 2 ) I have never been a patron of these supposed " vendors '' ; ( 3 ) I have no knowledge ( other than the extensive research conducted following my discovery of these fraudulent charges ) of these supposed organizations ; and ( 4 ) the Gift Card never left my control ( in fact, it never left my home office in XXXX, NC ) XXXX 

I will now provide analysis of each fraudulent charge : XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX  Processed - XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX - XXXX - XXXX, [ FL ] - {$160.00} This is the first fraudulent charge. An extensive search engine search reveals no vendor website for this entity. The only evidence that this entity exists is through the XXXX XXXXXXXX website, which presents its own set of issues and obvious suspicions. Please find that XXXX XXXX here XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX? XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. You will notice : ( XXXX ) there is no contact phone number ; ( XXXX ) there is no d/b/a name, which would at least permit more inquiry ; and ( XXXX ) the location of the business is actually a residential condo address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. InComm 's customer service agent requested that I contact this vendor : as you can see, that is quite impossible outside of service via USPS and InComm will not provide any contact information they might have " discovered '' during their " investigation ''. 

XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX  Processed XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, [ NY ] - {$170.00} This is the second fraudulent charge. An extensive search engine search reveals no vendor website for this entity ( same as the FL entity above ). The only evidence that this entity exists is through the NY XXXX website, which presents its own set of issues and even more obvious suspicions than the charge above. Please find that NY XXXX link here : XXXX XXXX XXXX  You will immediately notice that : ( XXXX ) there is no contact phone number ; ( XXXX ) there is no d/b/a name, which would at least permit more inquiry ; and ( XXXX ) the location of the business is actually a residential apartment complex address : https : XXXX. XXXX 's customer service agent requested that I contact this vendor : as you can see, that is quite impossible outside of service via USPS and InComm will not provide any contact information they might have " discovered '' during their " investigation ''. 

XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX  Processed - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GARDEN, [ FL ] - {$150.00} This is the third fraudulent charge. You will no doubt sense an immediate and distinct pattern : an extensive search engine search reveals no vendor website for this entity ( same as the FL and NY entities above ). The only evidence that this entity exists is through the XXXX XXXX  website, which presents its own set of issues and obvious suspicions. Please find that XXXX XXXX here : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX & XXXX % XXXX. You will immediately notice that : ( XXXX ) there is no contact phone number ; ( XXXX ) there is no d/b/a name, which would at least permit more inquiry ; and ( XXXX ) the location of the business appears to be a vacant parcel near a shopping complex XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX % XXXX. InComm 's customer service agent requested that I contact this vendor : as you can see, that is quite impossible outside of service via USPS and InComm will not provide any contact information they might have " discovered '' during their " investigation ''.

InComm has repeatedly stated that they are not responsible for " fraudulent charges ... because a gift card is not like a credit card. '' Their customer service representatives have been obstructionists and actively have ignored requests for assistance.