American Express Financial Advisors Prey On Children ..paying for someone else's crime *Consumer Suggestion *Fraud Chick on the case
I am a 19-year-old college student who opened an investment account with American Express. At the time of the opening, I was given a $15,000 credit line for purchasing stock. I intended to use this account for a class at a later date, and did not make any transactions on the account, or even view the account. At one point, I lost my account number, so I called American Express to get the number, but I never logged onto the computer.
Several months later, I recieved a harassing phone call from a lawyer in upstate New York who claimed that he represented American Express and that I owed the company $3100.
I explained to the lawyer that I never used the account, and that any charges made to that account were not authorized. Furthermore, I told him, I am a college student who does not have $3100 laying around. He insisted that I pay the amount immediately, or my credit report would be severely damaged. He continued to call me several times a week for the next month or so.
I finally sent a letter to American Express stating that I did not authorize the charges, and that I suspected that an unauthorized person logged onto my computer (which was located in a dorm room) and made the transactions while I was not around. I never heard a response from American Express, but the laywer kept bothering me.
Finally, I filed a claim with the SIPC and the SEC about the matter. About 6 weeks later, I got a report from American Express that basically showed what stocks were purchased, the times/dates of purchase, the IP address of the computer (MY computer's IP address), and acknowledgement that I had called the company for my account number.
I tried to explain to American Express that the IP address supported my assumption, and that I had been in class during the times that the stocks were purchased. I had a class schedule to prove that I was in class. However, they said that their findings showed that I was still reponsible. I was to pay up, or to suffer consequences. I asked why my claim was not covered by the FDIC or some other similar coverage, and they said that since it was a stock transaction, I had no coverage.
I am fed up with this company, and am currently watching my once-good credit report go down the drain simply because I cannot afford to pay for someone else's crime.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Fraud Chick on the case.
#30
Thu, October 25, 2001
This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #7314.
It was sent by The Fraud Chick at TheFraudChick@aol.com.
American Express Financial Advisors Prey On Children ..paying for someone else's crime (#7314)
They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:
Their email: TheFraudChick@aol.com
Their name: The Fraud Chick
Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion
Rebuttal:
I've reviewed the Amex brokerage web site. According to the fraud prevention portion you were given two passwords: one to sign on to the web site and then a second one that must be used to make a trade.
You have to sign on to get those passwords; you can't get them by calling in.
With that information and the fact that they have your IP attached to the sales you're in a bind. Don't try the "I'm a kid" route, that won't work...you're 19. So let's get real and look at some options.
I'm assuming you live in a dorm room. Are you accusing your roommate of fraud? Or did a mystery person enter your room and make the trades? I'm not being facetious, you never said who you suspect. Whatever the case I recommend you go to campus police or local PD and file a police report.
Your complaint would be identity theft and unauthorized usage of your Amex account. Then send a copy of that police report to Amex and ask for your account to be put back in it's original condition before the unauthorized trades.
You don't have a very good chance of this working. Almost everything is working against you on this one. The trades came from your computer, using two security passwords. You may have had class scheduled, but you would need attendance records to prove you were in class. Can you provide those?
The $3,100 came from a cash account, not margin. Unless the stock bottomed out you could sell it and pay back as much as possible. This isn 't a margin call, it's the same as a demand for an Amex credit card payment.
Good Luck
The Fraud Chick
Consumer Suggestion
#30
Thu, October 25, 2001
They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:
Their email: pelemissk@hotmail.com
Their name: Pele
Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion
Rebuttal:
You need to contact all 3 major credit reporting agencies and have you credit reports flagged as a possible fraud. Call the police, file a report.
You're not helpless, but you MUST act and act now, otherwise you're right, you will end up paying for someone else's crime.
Pele