Card stolen before activation
 

So I'm freaking out a bit...my PRG Amex was stolen before I received it (either at my apartment or elsewhere in the same city) and used to charge $7k today at Chanel.

Can anyone explain to me how this person could've activated the card? I live alone and there's no conceivable way I can think of how this card could've been activated without me.

I don't recall whether AMEX offers this option, but other credit card issuers offer an on-line card activation option. The person fraudulently using your card may have a better chance activating your card on-line than using your registered phone number.

Just out of curiosity, what was AMEX's response to this?

American Express does offline online activation. I do not recall what information is required other than that which is on the card itself.

They require you to login to your online account if you have one. Don't know what happens if you don't have one.

There are options to bypass the login:

The culprits could have enough information about you to activate your card. This could be information from other websites you've entered your info in or could be from someone that knows you.....

If the person stole the mail that included your card... They have your address information and everything that is on the card including security code.

That may be how? I can't recall what was required to activate a card but it's usually something generic.