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Old Feb 10, 2013, 9:07 pm
  #1  
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OK, this is cool [Amex fraud detection]

I just bought a wine fridge on Walmart.com. For whatever reason, AmEx thought it was a fraudulent purchase. ABout three seconds after clicking Submit on the website, the AmEx app on my phone beeped with a fraud alert. Simultaneously, the website said the transaction was declined by the card issuer.

I clicked "Yes, I attempted this transaction" on my phone, clicked Submit again on the website, and it went through.

That's how it should work! ^^^
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Old Feb 10, 2013, 9:27 pm
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That is pretty impressive, both companies IT backend systems working together for good.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 9:26 am
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I'm glad this worked out for you, but given that it wasn't a fraudulent charge, I'd argue this isn't how it should work. In a perfect world (and obviously in this regard it isn't) the transaction would have just gone through like normal.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 9:32 am
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Could the issue have been that yoou were having it shipped to an address other than your billing address?
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 9:43 am
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For whatever reason, Amex seems to flag Walmart.com purchases if you don't shop there frequently... had this happen to me with a purchase that was less than $400, and I've heard similar reports from others.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 9:45 am
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Years ago I noticed that they flagged electronics purchases.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 11:16 am
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AmEx tends to flag large alcohol purchases. I wonder if their system thought this was a purchase of alcohol, and not a refrigerator?
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 11:50 am
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mine did the same when I tried to buy an ipad over the x-mas holidays from Walmart. Perhaps walmart online is a high spot for fraud.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 1:27 pm
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They called me about a Walmart.com purchase and I'm glad they did. It was for $8,000 and not mine. I prefer the proactive mgmt. only had it happen once with a charge I wanted to make.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 1:37 pm
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TBH. Amex have never questioned any charges on my card, ever. Its always me that notices them once they hit my account, to there credit they are removed within a couple of hours and I can literally pick a new card up in 2 hours.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 1:56 pm
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Originally Posted by bumblebees
TBH. Amex have never questioned any charges on my card, ever. Its always me that notices them once they hit my account, to there credit they are removed within a couple of hours and I can literally pick a new card up in 2 hours.
Same. Amex have never ever declined a charge. I've never had a fraudulent charge on my Amex either though.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 2:04 pm
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
I just bought a wine fridge on Walmart.com. For whatever reason, AmEx thought it was a fraudulent purchase. ABout three seconds after clicking Submit on the website, the AmEx app on my phone beeped with a fraud alert. Simultaneously, the website said the transaction was declined by the card issuer.

I clicked "Yes, I attempted this transaction" on my phone, clicked Submit again on the website, and it went through.

That's how it should work! ^^^
with me they would probably notice that in the past I was only buying 5 liter boxed wine and couldnt determine I needed a refrig with bottle holders
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 2:04 pm
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Originally Posted by safigan
AmEx tends to flag large alcohol purchases. I wonder if their system thought this was a purchase of alcohol, and not a refrigerator?
How large is large? I do a lot of alcohol purchases (Liquor stores, micro-breweries, etc..) and they've never flagged me, but maybe they just think I'm a drunk.

They've only called me once about a charge and that was when I was purchasing some airline tickets for relatives (that have a different last name)
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 2:09 pm
  #14  
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I never had Amex question anything before a couple months ago - then, I noticed someone tried to charge about $1000 at Bed, Bath & Beyond over the course of a couple days.

It may also be that I don't think I've ever shopped at walmart.com...and very rarely at Walmart, for that matter.

In any case, clicking Accept on the iPhone app let the charge go through, but they still called me today to ask about it (and apparently blocked my card in the meantime, though I didn't try to buy anything in the interim, so I don't know).

I'm happy they're on the lookout and made it about as painless as possible for me.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 5:59 pm
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Same thing happened to me over the holidays when my wife bought Christmas cards from walmart.com using our Plat. Amex. I didn't mind though. Glad to see they're looking out.
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