Consumer complaint received 2026-01-29 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
Here is our story of what happened in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, where we unfortunately fell victim to a common jewelry scam. 

Here is an article showing how the scam works in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX? XXXX & XXXX & XXXX & XXXX & XXXX The XXXX XXXX jewelry scams in XXXX XXXX XXXX involve high-pressure tactics, fake stories ( like being your resort staff ), alcohol, and selling costume jewelry as genuine precious items, often with misleading receipts or no proper documentation, making disputes difficult but challenging charges with your credit card company ( like Amex ) using claims of fraud or misrepresentation ( not what was described ) is the best bet, even with just paper receipts or charge slips.

How the Scam Works 1. The Setup : Salespeople approach tourists on XXXX XXXX, often pretending to be from their resort or family ( e.g., " my grandmother 's shop '' ). 
2. Isolation & Pressure : They ply you with alcohol ( like tequila ) and use high-pressure tactics, sometimes separating you from your partner to manipulate you individually.

3. The Product : You're sold fake jewelry ( costume pieces with plated metals and glass/plastic stones ) as genuine gold, silver, or diamonds, often at inflated prices.

4. The " Receipt '' : You might get a handwritten receipt or a generic digital one, but it's often useless or easily faked, and the merchant may switch items during sizing.

What to Do ( If Scammed ) 1. Immediately Dispute the Charge : Call your credit card company ( XXXX, XXXX, Amex ) and initiate a chargeback for fraud or non-receipt of goods as described. 
2. Gather Evidence : Use your handwritten receipt, charge slips, photos, and even texts/emails as documentation.

3. Explain the Fraud : State clearly that the item received ( costume jewelry ) was not what was promised ( real precious jewelry ).

4. Appeal if Denied : If your first dispute fails ( as some have ), appeal, explaining that merchant-provided digital receipts are fake and don't match.

5. Return ( If Possible ) : Some people successfully returned to the store the next day to demand a refund, sometimes filming the exchange.

Storyline of our scam and proof of faked receipts. 
We went into XXXX XXXX XXXX  in search of a diamond ring, not aware of the information above on the jewelry on XXXX XXXX being counterfeit. We found a ring that we liked, and bargained to a price of {$3800.00} in USD in XXXX charge and a second charge for {$500.00} after that we were told would be the resize fee and a upgraded diamond that would be set at of XXXX  clarity with a certificate at the time of the resize. We were provided a hand receipt and then asked for my drivers license for the guarantee policy. I signed the policy and then was handed a copy ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) as my record of the policy. I asked for an additional receipt but was told that would be provided at the time of pickup. Since the purchase was a large one, I expected to have to pay tax at customs and knew they would ask for a receipt. 
Here is what we were given : The certificate of authenticity was provided at time of pickup, no other receipt was provided at pickup, the sales person XXXX advised me that our value was under the amount for customs and the guarantee policy and red hand receipt was all we needed. When asked again for an additional receipt we were told there was none avail since we were just picking up the ring. 
All in all we have a certificate that was hand written, a guarantee policy ( XXXX XXXX  XXXX ) a hand receipt for the ring and upgraded diamond, and the ( 2 ) credit card receipts. 

Once we got back into the XXXX, we decided to have the ring double checked at a jewelry shop located in XXXX XXXX XXXX near our house. The jeweler immediately claimed the ring was a counterfeit and proceeded to show us various tests that the ring was fake. He advised us a merchant to contact the original shop in XXXX. Unfortunately, there was no telephone number, website or any way to contact the original merchant, at that point we opened a dispute with Amex. Here is the pictures of the tests performed. There is also a video if requested to show the test being done. 


After the ( 2 ) disputes were submitted, ( 1 ) for the {$3800.00} and ( 1 ) for the {$500.00}, we waited and eventually received an initial response that the first one for {$3800.00} was declined based on the merchant response, and the second dispute was awarded in our favor based on no response from the merchant. We reviewed the merchant response and was stunned. They provided a digital receipt showing good that the store does not sell, and claiming that we had spent {$3800.00} on a few souvenirs, and we declined to be provided a receipt. They then provided the signed copy of the guarantee policy with a different XXXX XXXX ( XXXX  XXXX ) and said we signed and agreed to these terms. This of course is the second part of the scam, the forged receipt with signature for the counterfeit ring ( being replaced with fake items and prices ). I dont know many tourists that would shop in a downtown tourist area and spend {$3800.00} on souvenirs and not want a receipt. There was no longer any mention of a ring. 
This prompted us to call Amex back again and to state this was completely false, we did not buy any of those souvenirs, we never received any receipt even upon request. This was done by the merchant on purpose to misled Amex of the sale. The dispute was re-opened and later to our surprise we learned that both disputes got re-opened, the one for {$3800.00} and the one that was previously awarded in our favor for no merchant response for {$500.00}. Again some time passed and then we received a response for the dispute for the {$500.00} being awarded now to the merchant based on new evidence provided by the merchant. Again he provided a faked receipt for goods that were never purchased in his store, and yes the goods were some of the same ones we had, according to the merchant, previously purchased as part of the {$3800.00}. And again he claimed we declined to receive a receipt. However, this is where it gets interesting and you can really see his faked documents. In his response back, he provided a signed copy of the guarantee policy this time for XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. If you look at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX, there are several discrepancies. First, at the time, we were the only customers in the store, so how could 2 different transactions in a matter of minutes have different folio numbers. The second discrepancy is even bolder, as he has now provided at two separate times, two different receipts with my EXACT same handwriting for my id info, and my signature.

As the link below shows, the odds of being able to do this is ZERO. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX So the merchant has now provided Amex with ( 2 ) digital receipts for goods that were never sold, this is very easy for any Point Of Sale system, he essentially, dated the receipt to be the exact same time of the charge, made up items and costs to match the charged amount, and then provided a signed copy of the guarantee policy, without a signature on the receipt, and he managed to do this twice, thus providing 2 different receipts at 2 different times with an identical signature. This is how he is attempting to fake the receipts and claim that I never bought a ring, but instead he is claiming we spent a large dollar amount on various souvenirs, and that we have no receipt for any ring purchase. Also note that on the hand written receipt the merchants name is XXXX. In conclusion, you can see that the merchant XXXX is scamming us by providing counterfeit goods and then covering his tracks by not providing us a digital receipt from his store thus allowing him to create his own receipts for completely separate items. Im sure by the many articles online for other people falling for the same scam, he has had countless times to perfect this scam, however its my hopes that by seeing the duplicate receipts with the same signature, and hearing from our side of the story that you can see through this scam.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation