American Express Membership Rewards - Fraud Charges

I recently discovered that about 8,000 USD in fraudulent charges were made to my Centurion card. All were made in the greater Miami area and were "swipe" transactions (meaning the perpetrator essentially "cloned" my card). I visited the Miami area in March and suspect a certain merchant used a card reader to get my card details.

I called American Express and they indicated that they will start a fraud case and that I would have no liability for the charges so I shouldn't worry about anything. My question is what experience(s) do others have with similar situaitons and can I trust that AMEX will take care of it without my having to monitor the situation?

Any thoughts would be appreciated....

Check the 3 credit reporting agencies immediately to see if there's any unauthorized inquiries on your credit. Chances are, if your identity has been stolen, there might be more fraudulent accounts than what you're aware of.

If you only have fradulent charges on your Amex, chances are all you have to do is signed a notarized fraud affidavit. You are not responsible for any of the fraud charges.

I checked the credit file and everything seems OK.

I was mainly wanting to see what experiences people have with dealing with the AMEX fraud department. I have had a bad experience with Fleet (before BofA bought them). Basically, a couple of fraudulent charges were made and because I didn't dot every "i" and cross every "t" with them quick enough I got stuck with the charges.

Incidentally, the Fleet fraudulent charges were also made in Miami. Has anyone else experienced/head of a disproprotionate amount of credit card fraud in Miami?

Amex has been great for every single one of my fraud charges. I just had a garage in nyc charge me 400 for parking my motorcycle there for one week after promising me a rate of 100, the garage got the police there and forced me to pay the 400 but amex reversed it 5 minutes later and ended up giving me a complete credit for the full 400 after their investigation. Always hassle free with them one phone call and its always resolved. God help you if you have fraud on your visa or mc.

Funny, this is our situation right now. :mad:

Back in March, we noticed there were 2 fraud charges on my husband account (World of Warcraft membership). My husband contacted WW and have them reversed the charges immediately. Also, I contacted AE to dispute the charges and ask them if we should get a new card. The CR said it is up to us, but since there are no more odd charges happening for the following few day, very likely it was the merchant mistake. So we leave it alone. :td:

Things went quiet for a month. Late May, I got a message from AE saying there were a bunch of strange charges and they put the card on hold. My husband was in Korea at the time, so I assume it was because of his trip. I call AE back and they said there are more than 20+ random charges and one was like >3K of 1800flower thing. So we cancel the card immediately, however, 5 of the charges did went through. So we dispute them on-line with AE and get all but one reverse (Microsoft online service, said the charge was correct). Last week, the Microsoft online service charged 3 more times on my husband card even the number has changed!!!:rolleyes: So we called MS and dispute the charges with them directly this time. Their fraud department did some investigation and agreed to reverse all 5 charges (including the one that AE said it is our responsibility).

The moral of the story is, once there is one weird charge on your account, get a new card immediately, contact the merchant directly and dispute it with them. And of course dispute with AE.

My wife's (Centurion) card was cloned in May, also in Miami and surrounding area. Amex was great and credited us immediately, and overnighted a new card.

"83%" of card skimming takes place at restaurants, according to a recent study I saw. We have a suspicion about which one it was.

They managed to charge around $4500 in the 6 days before I noticed. Some were interesting: $400 (even) at Albertson's grocery store? $600 (even) at Home Depot? I was thinking that perhaps the M.O. is to use more than one card to pay for stuff, and ask the clerk to put an even amount on one card, and the rest on the other?

Many of the places where it was used have surveillance video, but from my experience on the merchant side (many years ago), Amex won't bother to pursue it. Back then, I had the home phone numbers of people who were using stolen cards (I ran a telephonic service bureau), but the card companies didn't even want those.

I would venture a guess that the even amounts mean someone bought gift cards at the max amount.


My wife's (Centurion) card was cloned in May, also in Miami and surrounding area. Amex was great and credited us immediately, and overnighted a new card.

"83%" of card skimming takes place at restaurants, according to a recent study I saw. We have a suspicion about which one it was.

They managed to charge around $4500 in the 6 days before I noticed. Some were interesting: $400 (even) at Albertson's grocery store? $600 (even) at Home Depot? I was thinking that perhaps the M.O. is to use more than one card to pay for stuff, and ask the clerk to put an even amount on one card, and the rest on the other?

Many of the places where it was used have surveillance video, but from my experience on the merchant side (many years ago), Amex won't bother to pursue it. Back then, I had the home phone numbers of people who were using stolen cards (I ran a telephonic service bureau), but the card companies didn't even want those.

to issue a green amex for yourself :)

i have additional green amex which is technically a centurion but as it is green... nobody tries to clone it :)

cheers dp

Back in November, someone stole my son's gold card out of his wallet, and used it for a few days, resulting in charges of about $4k. We didn't even know the card was missing. Amex called us to report "unusual activity," reversed all the charges, overnighted a new card, and that's the last I ever heard about it.

My Amex was cloned at a Target in Memphis. The check out clerk did it. My card was charged about $2,500. Amex called my work voicemail, discussed the unusual charges (also in even amounts like $400.00, $600.00 etc), canceled my card & overnighted me a new one and wiped everything off that wasn't mine.

Make sure you look VERY closley at your statements because I had additional long distance phone charges show up the next month. Not sure how that happened. Probably timing in the charges. After a quick phone call, Amex took those off as well.

Travel safe! :cool:

Last week, the Microsoft online service charged 3 more times on my husband card even the number has changed!...The moral of the story is, once there is one weird charge on your account, get a new card immediately...

Actually, it appears the lesson is that changing the account number will not prevent certain types of fraudulent charges because the card issuer may route them to the new account.

Actually, we were told by MS that we should inform them directly and dispute the charges with them also, because they don’t have record of the fraud charges in there system.:confused: That is why the fraud on-line account were still “alive” on the following month.:rolleyes:

My wife's (Centurion) card was cloned in May, also in Miami and surrounding area. Amex was great and credited us immediately, and overnighted a new card.

"83%" of card skimming takes place at restaurants, according to a recent study I saw. We have a suspicion about which one it was.


My card was used at three places in Miami: Sheraton Miami Mart (near airport), Ruth's Chris in Coral Gables and at Chili's at the airport. In hindsight, something very suspicious happened on check-in at the Sheraton. The clerk swiped my card at the desk terminal. Then the clerk asked for my ID and took the card and my ID in the back for 3-5 minutes. I didn't think much of it at the time but now.... Incidentally, after talking with the Sheraton, the clerk no longer works there.

USE CASH more often. the card skimming is getting a lot of press. one partial solution is to only use the credit card where you do the swipe through a machine yourself, and only use it at locations where you have to present the card ie hotels with perks tied to the card. i now use cash at gas stations and most restaurants (unless amex concierge made the reservation). nothing is foolproof but carrying a bit more cash around has sure saved a lot of sleepless nights. lots of scuzz bags out there and not giving them my card is sometimes prudent. just carry a bit more cash.
regards,

USE CASH more often. the card skimming is getting a lot of press. one partial solution is to only use the credit card where you do the swipe through a machine yourself, and only use it at locations where you have to present the card ie hotels with perks tied to the card. i now use cash at gas stations and most restaurants (unless amex concierge made the reservation). nothing is foolproof but carrying a bit more cash around has sure saved a lot of sleepless nights. lots of scuzz bags out there and not giving them my card is sometimes prudent. just carry a bit more cash.
regards,
I don't know when I last gassed up at a station that was not self-serve, with a card reader there with the pump. I'd hate to stop charging gas purchases, since I am so well rewarded for gas, grocery and drugstore purchases.

A few years ago, $22K of bogus charges were put on my Visa card during the course of a week-long stay in Puerto Rico. I was quite satisfied with the way Visa handled it with no hassles for me, but I was disturbed that they seemed so nonchalant about such fraud. If they can write off such losses with abandon, then they must really be raking it in what they collect from merchants and those who incur finance charges. (I don't know that they didn't go after those merchants were the 3 suspicious charges were made, or any of the several places where my card may have been cloned. Perhaps they did. I am doubtful, though.)

USE CASH more often. the card skimming is getting a lot of press. one partial solution is to only use the credit card where you do the swipe through a machine yourself, and only use it at locations where you have to present the card ie hotels with perks tied to the card. i now use cash at gas stations and most restaurants (unless amex concierge made the reservation). nothing is foolproof but carrying a bit more cash around has sure saved a lot of sleepless nights. lots of scuzz bags out there and not giving them my card is sometimes prudent. just carry a bit more cash.
regards,

There's no incentive for me to change my behavior if the credit card companies don't care about it. The only cost to me would be the time required to change all of my automated payments (which I went through when I changed from Platinum and now have a log).

... satisfied with the way Visa handled it......don't know that they didn't go after those merchants were the 3 suspicious charges were made, or any of the several places where my card may have been cloned. Perhaps they did. I am doubtful...)

You dealt directly with VISA rather than the bank that issued your card? Why are you doubtful that they charged back the merchants for the unathorized transactions?

(I don't know that they didn't go after those merchants were the 3 suspicious charges were made, or any of the several places where my card may have been cloned. Perhaps they did. I am doubtful, though.)

AMEX assured me that they prosecute offenders. We will see....

I figured that the best place that would have security cameras to see the perpetrator would be in a high-end watch store, Tourneau, where he tried to charge 13,000+ USD (which was declined). I cannot get the security chief for the chain of stores to call me back.

As an Amex merchant, we have encountered sophisticated fraud several times. For phone transactions of around $5k, we have twice received a scanned copy of what appeared to be an actual card (fake) along with a fake ID. The most recent thief called in giving a verified billing address in the southwest with a shipping address in Miami, which could not be verified. We told him to call Amex to add the alternate shipping address to his account. I was suspicious, however, so in the meantime with Google's help, I was able to get the real cardholder on the phone and discovered that she had no clue about the purchase that was about to take place (I think she was a tad freaked out that I had found her but also very thankful!). I forwarded everything to Amex's regional security office, which hopefully followed up on the lead.

I think one reason, as a previous poster mentioned, that credit companies appear to be "nonchalant" about issuing credit to cardholders is that the merchant often ends up getting stuck with the bill if they haven't followed every detail to a "t." Fortunately, so far, we have caught every attempt ahead of time.

Handling disputed charges, IME, is not one of them.

It's not "the only card I use" but certainly my preferred one. In terms of handling dispute matters and CS issues along these lines, Amex has been the best card company I've ever dealt with, period. Definitely my card of choice when making large (several thousand dollars) purchases.

Based on my experience with other card brands, thank goodness they swiped your Amex card and not some other. It would probably be a far greater headache/nightmare if it was some other card.

My card was used at three places in Miami: Sheraton Miami Mart (near airport), Ruth's Chris in Coral Gables and at Chili's at the airport. In hindsight, something very suspicious happened on check-in at the Sheraton. The clerk swiped my card at the desk terminal. Then the clerk asked for my ID and took the card and my ID in the back for 3-5 minutes. I didn't think much of it at the time but now.... Incidentally, after talking with the Sheraton, the clerk no longer works there.

That sounds VERY bad. If I were you, I would keep a very, very close eye on my credit reports.

I only ever had it happen once, also Miami. It was on a phone payment to Cingular (in Miami or FLL) for my cell phone. Calls began to appear on my Amex. Not the slightest problem to resolve it with them.

That sounds VERY bad. If I were you, I would keep a very, very close eye on my credit reports.

I only ever had it happen once, also Miami. It was on a phone payment to Cingular (in Miami or FLL) for my cell phone. Calls began to appear on my Amex. Not the slightest problem to resolve it with them.

I don't see anything in particular that would lead me to believe there is any identity theft here. All that usually happens is that the card is cloned and used until it doesn't work anymore. Of course, one should always closely monitor their credit report, but I don't see the risk for the OP to be any higher than normal.

You dealt directly with VISA rather than the bank that issued your card? Why are you doubtful that they charged back the merchants for the unathorized transactions?
I called the number on the back of the Visa card when my card was refused at an airport hotel desk because my credit limit had been exceeded with the $22K fraudulently charged to the card. (Would the thieves have kept going if they had not run up against the limit?) I think I was speaking to Visa's security department rather than the issuer's own security department, but I don't know that. In any event, what practical difference would it have made?

I am doubtful about their interest in catching the perps because of the matter-of-fact way they took my information and asked nothing beyond the basics. I don't know what I might have been able to give them beyond what they could deduce for themselves from the charges, e.g., the restaurants where it was most likely that the card got cloned, but it seemed that because it had happened someplace (Puerto Rico) where such fraud was relatively common, they weren't determined to catch those perps. Again, just my sense, which certainly could have been wrong.

What really dismayed me was how it all came about. When I tried to rent a car at Avis in San Juan the card was refused because it was from a different than usual locale and there had been some other small charges. I complained and they took the security flag off the account. It seems that left the door wide open for what happened later with the card. They were so quick to block the card after small purchases and an unlikely fraudulent one (would you use a bogus card to rent a car, when you have to present a driver's license in person?), then totally asleep at the switch when a week later someone(s) rang up charges >$5K (each ending in round numbers, with 3 zeroes at a jewlrey store, a stereo store, and a furniture store.

Since I wasn't stuck with the bill, and they didn't hassle me, it turned out OK from my perspective, with only that inconvenience at the hotel and some telephone calls later. But I could only wonder how much this sort of fraud costs the card issuers, merchants, and society collectively.

...I think one reason, as a previous poster mentioned, that credit companies appear to be "nonchalant" about issuing credit to cardholders is that the merchant often ends up getting stuck with the bill if they haven't followed every detail to a "t." Fortunately, so far, we have caught every attempt ahead of time.
Care to tell us what sorts of things merchants trip up on and get stuck with the loss for missing? Anything that we as card users should be aware of to minimize the chances of fraud with our cards? (I think that was a good suggestion by someone here about keeping an eye on your card when it is being swiped, but I don't know how one can get around that "exposure" when eating in restaurants, where they always go off out of sight to swipe the card.)

After reading this thread, I was surprised not to see any advice to notify Amex in writing at the special billing error address on your bill. This must be done by mail within sixty days of the date the suspect bill was mailed to you. This is the ONLY way to put into effect the consumer protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act. And, you'd better have proof that Amex got the letter.

While Amex may resolve the problem, what if they don't?

I've seen too many have big problems due to failure to notify the company in writing.

I called the number on the back of the Visa card ... the matter-of-fact way they took my information and asked nothing beyond the basics.

I expect you were dealing with the issuing bank. By the nature of their job people who work in the "fraud department" hear the details of similar incidents many times every day. I think is unwarranted to infer from their manner that the management of the company is not concerned, but their concern is statistical. They are not emotionally involved in the same way as the cardholder. I also think that being unenthusiatic about apprehending the perpetrator is not the same thing as "writing off" the loss. The loss may be passed back to the merchant or insured.

I expect you were dealing with the issuing bank. By the nature of their job people who work in the "fraud department" hear the details of similar incidents many times every day. I think is unwarranted to infer from their manner that the management of the company is not concerned, but their concern is statistical. They are not emotionally involved in the same way as the cardholder. I also think that being unenthusiatic about apprehending the perpetrator is not the same thing as "writing off" the loss. The loss may be passed back to the merchant or insured.
I don't disagree with anything you have said, especially about the difference between cardholder's reaction and that of the "fraud department," for whom this sort of thing is commonplace. Again, I was greatly surprised about the way this "fraud" came to pass, with the "security" people so hypervigilant in the beginning when they denied my valid charge, then so lax when the fraudulent ones came a week or so later. I don't know how likely this is, but someone suggested to me it might have been an "inside" job, that is that my card wasn't "cloned" in a restaurant, but rather than someone with the bank's security department told a confederate that this account was ripe for the picking because they had taken off the security check on it.

I would like to think that the banks are zealous in going after the wrongdoers, that they don't just stick it to the merchants or whomever else they can. If the merchants are up to no good, as has sometimes proven to be the case, then they are the wrongdoers to go after; if not, then go after those who did it. (Must wonder what went on with those merchants that submit those improbably high, "round" number charges. 3 different merchants, IIRC, but all highly suspicious.)

There are some strange things going on at AMEX. The security department called me a couple of months ago to confirm two charges on my card. One charge was from chapter.indigo (bookstore) for $12 and the other one from overstock for $25 :confused: After confirming that I indeed purchased there I asked them why these charges triggered a security review ... got no answer. They also put an inquiry on my credit file.
I routinely put 4-digit amounts through my Amex cards, so why did they investigate such small charges? I previously purchased from both stores before, so I am still confused to why this triggered a review of my account :confused: (I sure was scared when I found that message on my voice mail).

Amex is great. I've only had two problems and both on AMEX, albeit 15 yrs apart. They handled both quickly and efficiently. The last one arose when Verizon called to ask if I'd opened an account in Dec 06. I said I had no Verizon account. They said they thought as much. In May 07, after no activity, there were calls to Russia and VietNam. They said not to worry, they'd cancel the charges. The person opening the account had my name, my address (although the street # were inverted) and my phone number. They used my AMEX card. I called AMEX and had a new car the next day. It's easy, but it does screw up any automatic charges you've arranged on your account, such as EF!

After reading this thread, I was surprised not to see any advice to notify Amex in writing at the special billing error address on your bill. This must be done by mail within sixty days of the date the suspect bill was mailed to you. This is the ONLY way to put into effect the consumer protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act. And, you'd better have proof that Amex got the letter.

While Amex may resolve the problem, what if they don't?

I've seen too many have big problems due to failure to notify the company in writing.

Thanks for the advice...I will look into that

I can't figure out why Amex decides to flag a purchase and when not. When my wife's card was skimmed, there were clearly charges being made at the same time at opposite ends of the country on the same card. Why did they not flag that? It was an impossibility!

My wife's (Centurion) card was cloned in May, also in Miami and surrounding area. Amex was great and credited us immediately, and overnighted a new card.

"83%" of card skimming takes place at restaurants, according to a recent study I saw. We have a suspicion about which one it was.

They managed to charge around $4500 in the 6 days before I noticed. Some were interesting: $400 (even) at Albertson's grocery store? $600 (even) at Home Depot? I was thinking that perhaps the M.O. is to use more than one card to pay for stuff, and ask the clerk to put an even amount on one card, and the rest on the other?

Many of the places where it was used have surveillance video, but from my experience on the merchant side (many years ago), Amex won't bother to pursue it. Back then, I had the home phone numbers of people who were using stolen cards (I ran a telephonic service bureau), but the card companies didn't even want those.

If you look on youtube there is a video about restaurant card skimming. Apparently this is thefull time job of a number of people .

Albertson's $400 charge - you should check out their prices on Dom Perignon $160 range I thnk.

As far as the restaurant goes - I'd mention it to AMEX and let their fraud department go to the restaurant with a "special" card and see how long it takes to take them down - probably get ALL merchant acount privileges revoked.

Back in November, someone stole my son's gold card out of his wallet, and used it for a few days, resulting in charges of about $4k. We didn't even know the card was missing. Amex called us to report "unusual activity," reversed all the charges, overnighted a new card, and that's the last I ever heard about it.

On my business plat last year there was a charge to a knife shop somewhere in Wisconsin or whatever - I didn't really even notice it - just pay the bill - AMEX called me up and mentioned the charge - deleted it - and sent me a new card.

On my business plat last year there was a charge to a knife shop somewhere in Wisconsin or whatever - I didn't really even notice it - just pay the bill - AMEX called me up and mentioned the charge - deleted it - and sent me a new card.
Interesting isn't it that sometimes they can appear to be so sharp and sometimes so dull (pun intended). Without any alert by you, AmEx was on to this charge from the knife shop, probably for a less than humungous amount, while aviators99 notes how they were oblivious to a card being used "simultaneously" on different sides of the country. I wonder if AmEx was on to the knife shop because they had already been alerted to other fraud going through that merchant.

First time, I flew from one end to the world, getting rerouted (bumped + weather) and ended up paying in 5 different countries over the course of 16h. Got a phone call on my cell from Amex, apologizing for calling so late, but they'd noticed some unusual transactions and would like to verify if they were mine. We went over the charges and all were in order. They told me that had I not answered the phone they'd have left a message and canceled the card, but they like to call first since "many of their cardholders travel a bit and have unusual spending patterns".

The second time was when my partner (his card is on my acct) booked a hotel in the Netherlands for his parents and paid by AmEx. A few days later, a load of mysterious charges showed up, nothing big, just weird and in and around the same area not triggering a flag with AmEx. It was a few days before the billing date, and so I called them and signaled the issue. "No problem, sir, we'll just cancel your monthly bill altogether. Send us a print-out from the on-line account statement and indicate which charges are yours and that you want to pay, and we'll put them on next months bill. Oh, and expect a new card in 24h"

Their dealing with these two incidents made me a loyal cardholder. I hope to never have to deal with them on these matters again, but if I do, then I am somewhat confident that they'll deal with it efficiently and smoothly.

I can't figure out why Amex decides to flag a purchase and when not. When my wife's card was skimmed, there were clearly charges being made at the same time at opposite ends of the country on the same card. Why did they not flag that? It was an impossibility!

I can't figure out their flagging process either. I was in Venice, Italy using the card with some frequency when the fraudulent charges were being made in Miami. Surely their system should recognize that "card present" transactions being made back and forth between Miami and Venice over a couple of days simply can't happen.

They make so much off the people who pay interest, fees, charges, etc that it makes up for fraud charges.

I don't know when I last gassed up at a station that was not self-serve, with a card reader there with the pump. I'd hate to stop charging gas purchases, since I am so well rewarded for gas, grocery and drugstore purchases.

A few years ago, $22K of bogus charges were put on my Visa card during the course of a week-long stay in Puerto Rico. I was quite satisfied with the way Visa handled it with no hassles for me, but I was disturbed that they seemed so nonchalant about such fraud. If they can write off such losses with abandon, then they must really be raking it in what they collect from merchants and those who incur finance charges. (I don't know that they didn't go after those merchants were the 3 suspicious charges were made, or any of the several places where my card may have been cloned. Perhaps they did. I am doubtful, though.)

They make so much off the people who pay interest, fees, charges, etc that it makes up for fraud charges.

That has nothing to do with it. AX doesn't eat the $$$ for the false charges - the merchant does. That's why they don't pursue the issue as much as you think they would. Plus, figure that you'd need a few FTEs to do the leg work on the investigations, plus the effort to coordinate with local law enforcement once they actually find someone to bust. It isn't worth the millions it would actually cost them to do it.

I've never seen a fraudulent charge on my account. Once AMEX called me about some charges that followed a visit to a local restaurant and I said "not me." They never showed on the account.

BUT at times its anti-fraud efforts get to be too much. While traveling in New Zealand (I told AMEX I was going with exact dates), my US office got a call that my account would be frozen because of suspicious charges if I did not call within a few hours. Attempts to reach them via foreign payphones left me on hold forever. When I got through because of the time differences the appropriate AMEX representative was not available. I thought fraud was a 24/7 activity. Finally, we got through on a bad line. My hearing is poor but they refused to speak with my wife. Both of us listened. She had to repeat the questions to me. I had to then answer. Any deep voice could have said it was me. What a pain.

They refused to give me any details of why the call. They asked me about my last few charges, all legit, and finally said all was ok.When I got back I was told I had a small charge at a store where others may have had their cards cloned. None of my charges after that were over $100. Not a fraud pattern, but sure caused us a problem.

We always take two AMEX cards when we travel so if one gets stopped the other does not. False security calls have caused us issues on other trips. I just got back from Africa and left them with day by day information as to where we would be. We had no trouble beyond trying to use the cards. Several high end resorts there do not accept AMEX.

I did need to contact Centurion Travel from Cape Town on a Saturday. Don't ask. I finally used AT&T Direct and called Delta on my own to straighten things out. Amex has yet to refund my $34 in charges.

But sometimes its wonderful --- isn't it?

BUT at times its anti-fraud efforts get to be too much. While traveling in New Zealand (I told AMEX I was going with exact dates), my US office got a call that my account would be frozen because of suspicious charges if I did not call within a few hours. Attempts to reach them via foreign payphones left me on hold forever. When I got through because of the time differences the appropriate AMEX representative was not available. I thought fraud was a 24/7 activity.

They don't try to call on your cell phone in the US? At least in Finland they actually recommend having your cell phone number in your contact information so they can reach you also while travelling in case there is something odd happening with your account.

An update....

AMEX sent me a letter indicating that they are crediting the charges back to my account. The letter does not indicate that I need to do anything further.

It seemed pretty painless overall. On the other hand, I tried to get some cooperation from a couple of vendors who might have security cameras, specifically Tourneau, and received no help.