Hi guys,
A family member applied and was approved for an American Express CC (Blue) and was approved for a 1k Credit limit. My family member had the card for about 2 months and was suddenly hit with Fraud Protection after trying to pay for some car repairs $200 USD. The card was frozen/locked and could not be used anymore.
My family member then was hit with an e-mail staying that they need to verify the Identity of the card holder via the following:
"To protect the security of your account, we require an appropriate authorizing source to verify your identity. Please complete the enclosed form in the presence of a licensed notary within a banking institution, U.S. Embassy, or Military office:
If you are an individual residing in the U.S., please go to your local banking institution and ask for a notary and present your government issued photo ID, Passport, or Visa and the notary will then fill out the document below. If residing in California please provide a Signature Guarantee.
If you are a U.S. citizen residing or traveling overseas, please go to a U.S. Embassy and ask for a notary and present your government issued photo ID, Passport, or Visa and the notary will then fill out the document below.
If you are currently active in the military and are residing overseas, please contact your local legal military office and ask for a notary and provide them with your photo military ID card and the notary will then fill out the document below.
Once the notary has filled out the required information, please fax the completed document to 1-800-219-9879, or 602-744-8870 if you're outside the U.S., within the next 15 calendar days from the date on this notification.
You'll need to sign the top of the form or it will not be considered complete. Once we receive the requested information, we can review for accuracy and verify your identity. Please note that future charges may be declined on your account until the identification process is complete. You should advise any additional Card Member(s) that their future charges may be declined as well.
To find detailed instructions on how to provide the documents we need to complete our review and how to return this information to us click here.
( This is the click here link given to us for the legal document that we need to fill out http://www208.americanexpress.com/axp/attachments/Bysigningthisform.pdf
Your prompt response in this manner is appreciated. If you have any questions please call us at 1-866-280-1887, or international collect 336-393-1111. Our hours of operations are 8:00 am to 12:00 am (midnight) Eastern Standard Time seven days a week.
Sincerely,
American Express Identity Protection Team"
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My family member is " an individual residing in the U.S" so the first option is the one we must do. We went to BANK OF AMERICA where my family member has been a card and account holder for 20 years and showed them the paper work (Link above) that american express gave us and we printed. Basically we need either the NOTARY SEAL or SIGNATURE GUARANTEE and were told by the Bank of America supervisor at that time they no longer have the seal or signature guarantee. Also, that they can only use the seal for documents that are for BANK OF AMERICA only.
After that bit we went to CHASE BANK where my family member also has a card with. We asked for a notary and were told that their SEAL is only for DOCUMENTS THAT ARE OF CHASE BANK ONLY. Basically the same answer as BANK OF AMERICA.
So, after that we called American express and explained the situation that neither of the banks we are members with cannot provide the things they are asking for due to their policies. We asked for an alternative and they mentioned going to a PUBLIC NOTARY. We located a public notary a couple of blocks away and went to verify my family member's identity with the documents they require. The Public Notary has been established in that location since 1967 and was able to help us. He verified the documents, provided his seal, then faxed the documents to American Express on that same night and charged a small fee.
We went home and the next day American Express contacted us that they needed some information. We called and were asked if BANK OF AMERICA HAD REFFERED US TO THAT PUBLIC NOTARY. My family member said NO and that it was the person from AMERICAN EXPRESS who stated what our options were. They said that the Notary MUST BE REFERED FROM BANK OF AMERICA and that the legal documents we sent will not be worth anything.
We went to bank of america asking for are referral and practically no one there knows any notary.
So we are stuck. I think this is a shady practice because neither BofA or Chase can do this type of identify verification AMERICAN EXPRESS is asking, and when we went to a legally established PUBLIC NOTARY who verified and stamped the paper work they threw the paper work away like it is not worth anything.
We called again, explained the whole situation, and they are dead set on only wanting paper work from a notary referred from a bank. It doesn't seem like either one of the banks I mentioned want to get their hands sticked into this type of legal issue. ALSO, American Express offerrs NO OTHER SOLUTION WHAT SO EVER even though we explained that we can't get the seal/stamp/signature from either one of the banks I mentioned.
So, I would like to ask here for help and a possible solution. I feel that American express is worthless in the way they do about their bussiness and just wonder what is going to happen now.
[B]They say they want to verify my family member's identity to be sure that it was that person who applied the card and made the purchases. Yet when we called they told us that if we can't verify the identity we are still responsible for the charges.[/B]
Which we are, but it is stupid because on one hand they are basically asking "Are you really you?" and on the other are saying "IT WAS YOU!"
What will happen if we cannot verify the identiy? THey said they MIGHT close the CC, which I think they will. I honestly don't care if they close the CC, but I a worried that their sick acts will mar my family member's Credit Score and History that has been hard at work building it.
Solutions? Advice? We really need help. We can pay the debt that is on the card 600 USD, but are more concerned with them destroying my family member's credit score and credit history with some fraud BS.
-edit-
I also tried to look for any American Express Bank based in los angeles county, which is where we are, and there are none. It seems they don't have any banks at all. We wanted to go to an American Express bank in person to clear this all up, but that is apparently not an option.
Another worthy note: When my family member asked the AMERICAN EXPRESS representative what would happen with the money owned and if there would be any type of FEE or APR PENALTY (We got it with a 0% APR intro on purchases) that would need to be paid if this issue could not be resolved and the card was canceled the representative just flat out said that THERE WOULD BE NO MONEY TALK AT THIS TIME and that all of this needs to be cleared up before the deadline comes about, which is something around 10 days or so. Yeah, I am sure they want us to wait for them with debt on our hands so they can RIP out of some hefty APR charges once they cancel the card. They don't even have the courtesy of letting us know if we should PAY the card off as to avoid possible charges IF the issue cannot be resolved and the card is canceled.
