AMEX has me confused with my K-pop alter-ego

[pfarber]

Been doing some traveling, and I only use two credit cards when traveling: American Express and Capitol One.

In the last 90 days BOTH have had fraudulent charges placed for approx $1000 in value.

First Capitol One said I spent $750 in a boutique in NYC on a date I can prove I was not in NYC. That charge was reversed in less than 3 days.

The best fraudulent charge was American Express and a 193,000 South Korean won charge ($171) for an online Korean something. Amex is dragging their feet a bit, almost 5 days since I flagged it and its still open. Hey, Amex, I was not in South Korea nor do I speak/read Korean to even place an order. But take your time. I'm sure the next Amex data breach will expose whatever account number you re-issue to me.

Capitol One cancelled my card the day I reported it and then overnighted me a new card. Amex? Well, lets just say no new card has arrived yet.

Here comes my Dave Ramsey is a choad rant:

If I didn't use my credit cards I would have to rely on a local credit union or worse, a regional bank to 'investigate' and then hopefully refund my money. NEVER, EVER travel using debit. If your numbers get stolen, or worse your money is GONE until a bank (usually a local bunch of folks that mean well, but have almost zero people in the fraud department) randomly decide if they believe you. I have a previous post from a few years ago about $1200-ish that was taken from my debit account and the weeks it took to get it back.

A heavy hitter like AMEX and Capitol One have more people in the fraud department than most small European countries have in their military. And no, I generally don't carry a balance so I don't care if they charge 30% interest; I pay it off every month. Smart people use credit cards like the tools they are... financially ignorant people think a CC is a loan of worse: 'free money'.

Also don't even get me started on your credit score when doing things like renting, starting utilities etc. I saved over $600 in deposits because my credit score is damn near 800. I pity the folks that have sub 600s and try and get a service or utility turned on that requires a deposit.

[pfarber]

AMEX update:

Originally the merchant had until July 15th to reply with documentation that I made the purchase. Well, today is the 16th and AMEX still lists the charge.

Next status update is July 25th. Seriously? AMEX wtf? I was not in Korea nor was there anything shipped to me. Customs paperwork is a thing.

This is a small amount, but imagine they used my debit card (you fool!) and it was for say $1000??? Your local bank is going to 'investigate' for a month and maybe return your funds?

Your debit card should never be used for anything online. That reduces your exposure to data breaches (although every major CC issuer seems to have had at least one breach