Consumer complaint received 2024-01-19 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: DC

Complaint narrative:
Since XX/XX/XXXX, multiple of my credit cards have had fraudulent charges. One of the credit cards is from American Express. I reported the fraudulent charges to American Express on XX/XX/XXXX. However, I could not find that Amex opened any fraud claim from my end of the website or bank app. Still, I received an email stating that Amex had resolved the fraud inquiry and credited my account on the same day. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another email from Amex stating that I provided my account number to a merchant, making me liable for all the charges. I requested the bank to provide the documents, but they did not. Instead, they reopened the dispute. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Amex closed my inquiry, stating that I am liable for all the charges. I requested the bank to provide the documents, but they did not. Instead, one of the representatives told me to contact the merchants. I sent multiple emails and made phone calls to the merchants. Finally, one of the merchants provided information regarding the orders from fraudulent transactions. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I was finally able to contact the investigation team, and the representative told me that all the orders from fraudulent charges were sent to an address connected to me for years. He asked me to provide documents to support myself if I wanted to reopen the case. When I wrote down the address, I found that the address is the same as the one the merchant provided to me. Then, I discovered that the address is an apartment home, and the entire building was built in XXXX, based on the apartment.com website. It is not possible for me to be connected with this address for years. I also used the name and the apartment number that the merchant provided to me to send an email to the apartment leasing office to ask for the leasing agreement. Luckily, they thought I was the resident and provided me the leasing agreement. On the leasing agreement, my name is not listed, and the fraud charges happened during the leasing agreement period. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email said the investigation was closed. I called Amex. Even the supervisor could not tell why I received this email. She said the investigation was still ongoing and asked me not to make any payment. 
Amex investigated this claim for months. I made countless phone calls to them, and the representatives and supervisors always provided different information. There was no fraud claim opened in the app or website to allow me to follow the dispute process. Besides Amex, the other two banks finished the investigation for the fraud charges months ago, and I was not liable for the charges, which were from the same merchants. I never received any documents from Amex to show why I am liable, and I asked for the documents a few times during the phone calls, but Amex refused to provide them. Instead, they asked me to contact the merchants. And most of the merchants refused to provided me information and asked me to call the bank.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation