At work yesterday, I shared with my female coworkers how I appreciate how coconscious American Express is in monitoring their cardholders’ activity. The subject came up when one of the gals shared how she’d experienced fraudulent charges on one of her credit cards and was put through a living nightmare trying to prove that she had not made those charges.
This evening, I stopped on my way home from the office to get gas. While still at the pump, I received a message from American Express, asking me to contact them regarding possible fraudulent charges on my account. In the meantime, they had put a hold on my account to protect me.
I had to wait until I got home to call them, since they need calls regarding fraudulent activity on one’s account to be made from the phone number that the account has listed on it. For me, that’s my home number.
As soon as I walked in the door, I made that call. The representative I spoke with was very polite and told me that two failed attempts had been made on my account, then an actual charge for gas—the one I had made. I was impressed that American Express had been on top of the situation with such expediency—within two minutes.
I explained how I had attempted to swipe my card at the pump and had received a message that the transaction couldn’t go through. Thinking there was a mistake, I’d tried again before going in to see the attendant, who was able to manually process my request. And here’s the best part, the attendant requested my photo ID with my credit card. This, because American Express, between the two failed swipes with my card out at the pump and my walking inside the store, had put a hold on the account, requiring photo ID for further purchases.
Like I said, I was thrilled with how quickly American Express jumped on what could have been fraudulent activity on my account. I wasn’t upset by having to walk inside the store or having to present my photo ID. In fact, I’m grateful for the added safety measures American Express incorporates in such situations.
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