Originally Posted by
joykid
Good news! I want to update you on my Amex cards, they finally lift the freeze/block on both of my SPG personal and business cards after I sent them the requested documents a week ago.
Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon (who spends a lot on legitimate charges on Amex and other cards and who has never lied on a credit application), but am I the only one who feels like, at a societal level, this isn't good news at all?
Originally Posted by
joykid
My dilemma now is how do I suppose to meet the minimum spending on both of my SPG cards to get the sign up bonus? if buying gift cards will trigger the alert to Amex and I am afraid they will block/freeze my account and do the Financial Review on me again if I buy gift cards to meet the minimum spend.
So, admittedly I don't really buy into the whole manufactured spending concept. I get my miles the old-fashioned way, I do MR's.
I like my credit scores, etc. as high as possible, and I have neither the time nor the patience to manage a manufactured spending portfolio. That being said, if someone has found an arbitrage, I support interested and capable persons taking advantage of it.
In this case, however, I have zero sympathy for fears of an FR, and hope that Amex does FR you again, because you are actually not an
arbitrageur -you arguably committed fraud.
In California (but broadly applicable in all states), the elements of fraud are:
(a) misrepresentation (false representation, concealment, or nondisclosure);
(b) knowledge of falsity (or “scienter”);
(c) intent to defraud, i.e., to induce reliance;
(d) justifiable reliance; and
(e) resulting damage.
It seems like all of those elements were met in this particular instance, and Amex would be entirely within your rights to nail you hard. As someone who pays sizable annual fees to Amex so that I may use my cards for entirely legitimate purchases, and thus subsidizes what you're doing, I hope they do.
If you can't afford the table stakes, you shouldn't be playing.
Greg