Dovster

Last evening, I made a number of purchases on my HHonors card (this is far from the first time I have done so, nor was the total amount anywhere near what I have purchased in one day in the past).

For my last purchase, which was for 399 shekels, ($105.62) among the least expensive ones I made that day, the store owner could not get automatic validation when he swiped the card. He was told to call Amex.

He did, they told him to check my ID and verify my identity. He did so and was told that I would have to be verified by Amex's international headquarters.

We waited for at least 10 minutes before someone there picked up the phone. I was then subjected to a series of questions like I had never gotten before. She wanted to know, among other things:

1. What is my address?
2. What is my birth date?
3. What shops had I purchased in earlier in the evening?
4. What are the last four digits of my Social Security number?
5. What cities had I been in before returning to Israel earlier this month?
6. What was the very last purchase I made in the States? (That one was easy -- I bought something at the Duty Free on board my Delta flight.)

I finally gave her my U.S. Army serial number from 48 years ago (this was a freebie -- she did not ask for it nor is it in my Amex records). At that point, she gave up and validated my purchase.

I thought the matter was finished until I got home and found this e-mail waiting for me:


Fraud Protection Alert

Please call us at 1-800-824-9289


For Your Security:

Dear Dovster,

For your security, we regularly monitor accounts for possible fraudulent activity. Please review the attempted charge below which occurred within minutes of the timestamp of this message.

Transaction Date: 03/14/12

Merchant: ELECTRO KOBY LT

Amount:399.00

Currency:ISL

Case Number:57678

Please call us as soon as possible using the number on the back of your Card to verify these attempted charges. You can also call American Express Account Security directly at 1-800-824-9289. You should have your American Express Card handy when you call.

Some transactions are pre-authorized before the final sale. These can include purchases made at gas stations, hotels, and car rental merchants. Please note the amount shown above may not reflect the exact amount of your final transaction.

If we've already spoken to you about this matter, please disregard this message. No further action is required.

Thank you for your Cardmembership.

Sincerely,

American Express Account Security
Fraud Prevention Network

Need

Did you buy the plane ticket with your Amex card? I was told that usually if you buy the ticket with the same card, they will know that you are out of the country and to where, so purchase overseas won't be flagged as possible frauds. But I guess if you bought the ticket long before you travel, they may not know.

I had it happened when I used my Chase Mastercard oversea but bought the tickets with Amex. Amex was fine with all my purchases, but Chase flagged the first restaurant payment (they don't take Amex).

Notenut

The title of this post is misleading and it is in the wrong forum- it has nothing to do with Hilton, it's an Amex credit card issue.

Dovster

I did buy it with my Amex but the interesting part is that I live in Israel, so charges from here should come as no surprise.

You are right. Mods, could you please move this to the Amex forum and change the title to "Amex Security checked me yesterday"?

BobH

I agree this one should be moved, but feel that you don't have a complaint when you're the one being protected.

I recently had a credit card company offer me a nice rebate if I used their card for x amount of purchases.

I did that and laughed when they contacted me to ask if I'd charged anything recently because it represented a change in my usage pattern !

True story

Bob H

Dovster

It's not really a complaint, it is more of my laughing at the lengths they went to. (If you want a complaint about this, go to the store manager and his assistant. They wanted to close the place and couldn't until we got the approval.)

holtju2

Protected? This is NOT for the protection of the card holder. It is rather to curtail potential losses of American Express/merchant/card issuer.

But, as others have pointed out, this has nothing to do with the Hilton and the title is misleading.

Dovster

I have taken the unusual step of RBPing my own post, asking that the title be changed, and that it be moved to the Amex Forum.

steve64

There are many things that can flag an account for "possible fraudulent activity".
Anything out of pattern can trigger it. "Out of pattern" isn't limited to charging in countries other than your residence.
And it might one of the merchants who is "out of pattern", not you.

"Fraudulent activity" used to mean "stolen card". In today's world it's more likely to mean "stolen identity". Thus the "24 questions" game to try and confirm they were indeed talking to you, not a fraudster.

The "auto generated" e-mail is just another confirmation that they weren't talking to a fraudster at the time, assuming that they haven't recently recorded a change in your e-mail address.

Yea, it protects the credit card companies and merchants from losses. But the customer is also getting some protection, particularly in cases where the transaction in question ended up being the customer's first clue that their identity had been breached.

A pain indeed. But sadly, a needed pain in today's reality.

jamesteroh

You are being protected as well. I would want to know if my credit card was being used fraduantely, and if the Am Ex card was comprimised, there is a good possiblity other cards were comprimised as well and/or your idenity was stolen.

While it can waste a little bit of my time, I would appreciate the call. I also appreciate it when a clerk asks to see photo ID when I use a credit card.

formeraa

+1 When the data breach at Citibank happened last year, they blocked a "large" out-of-pattern attempted charge. Thank goodness because it was in fact fradulent. I appreciated it because I didn't have to fill out paperwork, send it in, and then nervously wait for Citibank to remove the charges..

holtju2

Not sure why you would feed "nervous" for Citi to remove unauthorized charges?

I think that it was with Citi that you can do the dispute with "digital" signature. No need to mail anything.

Sez_Who

Knowing you, Dov, the trigger could have been the $100K tab you ran up in Las Vegas. Or maybe it was some parent contacting AmEx because you tried to hit on their daughter.

Agree this is really excessive, even more surprising because AmEx does not require notification before traveling intl. An irritating nuisance it might be but in the long run, good for all of us that credit card companies take this fraud stuff somewhat seriously. Thanks for making the sacrifice so that none of us have to go through it. ^

PS -- Glad your travels were safe.

payam81

Meh...

Considering the title, I thought OP would tell the story of how he was stopped by Hilton BKK security while brining up some 'special' friend(s)...