Fraudulent charges on American Express have been growing exponentially over the years.  Bogus charges on one’s American Express account is a form of identity theft which, of course, has been the fastest growing crime in American.

 

What you need to do if you have to Dispute Charges on your American Express Account.

The law governing this area is the Fair Credit Billing Act (“the Law”).  As a practical matter, here is what you need to do to dispute a charge on your Amex Account, when (not if) you find fraudulent charges on your credit card statement:

Dispute the fraudulent charges to American Express in writing.

Yes, Amex and the other banks invite you to call them because they are your friends, right?  WRONG!  The law gives you 60 days from the date that the fraudulent charge first appears on your American Express Statement to dispute the charges IN WRITING!  Phone calls don’t trigger your rights under the law.  If your rights are not triggered under the law, you cannot sue the bank for the bogus charge.  Feel free to call the bank to make your dispute so long as you follow up with your dispute in writing. I cannot tell you how many times defense attorneys have gotten in my face to say “Your client did not make his dispute in writing.”  Yep, this happens.

Get an acknowledgment of your dispute in writing.

Under the Law, American Express is required to acknowledge your dispute in writing.  This is your proof that you timely sent your dispute to the bank and that it received it.  In our office, we send these disputes by certified mail to avoid defense attorneys raising the lack of writing defense.  If after you make your dispute you do not get an acknowledgement of your dispute within 1 week, call the bank again and keep on top of them until they email or snail mail you an acknowledgement.  Today, most of them will email an acknowledgment to you quickly.

Make sure you receive the bank’s decision to your dispute within 2 billing cycles.

Amex is required to give you a decision on your dispute within this time.  If you don’t get these results, be sure to call the bank and make sure to get its decision in writing, whether by email or snail mail.  Many times, the bank may email these results and they get caught in people’s spam filters.  Amex’s decision starts the clock on when you can file your lawsuit.  Put the due date in your calendar and be sure to get these results, in writing.

When American Express Declines your dispute, you have 1 year within which to sue it to reverse the fraudulent charges.

In the legal world, this is called the “Statute of Limitations” and its really short.  The law keeps you on a very short leash to notify the bank of your dispute (60 days from when it appears on your credit card statement) and how much time you have to sue the bank (1 year from when it sends you the dispute results).

Why You should not do an American Express Dispute Charge yourself.

We can do it for you at no out of pocket charge to you.  We will write the correct dispute letter for you and send it to American Express at no out of pocket charge to you.  If they remove the fraudulent charges from your account, it costs you nothing and you will be all set.  If Amex decides to hold you liable for the fraudulent charges, we will sue American Express on your behalf and it will still cost you nothing out of pocket.  Under the law, Amex is required to pay your fees and costs in any successful action.  We have usually very successful in collecting our fees and costs from American Express.   This is why is very important to send your dispute to Amex in writing or, better yet, let us do it.  We will make sure that the letter is correct and that it has been received by the bank.

Our help costs you nothing out of pocket

If you have fraudulent charges on your credit card statement, learn more at Credit Repair Lawyers of America.  Our law firm has been helping consumers with credit issues since 2008.  You can visit us at www.crlam.com , call us at (404) 528-2058 or email us at [email protected].  We are happy to help you through the confusing maze of disputing your  fraudulent credit card charges all at no out of pocket charge to you.   Contact us today for your free, no obligation consultation.  Our law firm has been helping resident of Georgia with credit issues at no of pocket charges since 2018.

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