Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?  After completing my June app-o-rama (applying for several credit cards on the same day), I was pleased to be approved for a Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express.  I was told by American Express that they would send me my new American Express Delta Credit Card by UPS and that I should have it within 1-2 business days.  After 2 business days had passed, I decided to wait one more day before calling American Express.  At the end of the third business day, I still had no credit card.  Had they sent it via USPS First Class Mail instead?  Maybe. So I called American Express to find out what was going on.  

The customer service representative was very professional and helpful.  I told her that I had not received my new card after a few days and wanted to know what was going on.  She said that the card was already activated and had been used twice already.  Uh oh…

She said that there was a charge for $65 at a Chevron in Concord, CA and a $7 charge at a Jack-in-the-Box in Corona, CA.  Neither of which were made by me.

At this point, we both knew what was going on.  The card had been stolen and used by someone else.  She immediately froze the card and put me on hold as she filed out a fraud alert for my card. She told me that American Express cardholders are never liable for fraudulent charges made on their credit cards (that’s always good to hear).

I asked her when the card was supposedly delivered to my house and she said Wednesday, June 12 at 4:57PM.  I was home at the time and so was my father, but we never saw or heard any UPS delivery truck come to our home.  She asked if I lived on a busy street and I said no, a quiet corner house on a cul-de-sac of a private, gated community.  She thought teenagers might have taken the card but I find that extremely hard to believe since the charges were made several miles from my home.  I have a few theories, but I won’t bore you with my crazy conspiracy theories.  I’m still surprised the thief was able to activate the card without me seeing it in my online account or receiving an email from American Express.  That’s another mystery…

Anyways, back to the story.  She said that she would send a new American Express Delta Credit Card by UPS and I asked if she could send the card via UPS Next Day Air.  She put me on hold for a few minutes as she got her supervisor’s approval.

The following day around noon, I received the UPS envelope with my new American Express Delta Credit Card.  I quickly activated the card online and added it to my online account.  The first thing I see when I log into my account are the fraudulent purchases.

I called American Express and was told that I would receive a statement credit for those charges within the next 48 hours.  Within a few minutes I received the following email from American Express.  They sure are fast about fixing problems.

In the end, after a few calls and some frustration, everything had worked out fine.  I used the card recently for 4 tickets from Vancouver, BC to Los Angeles, CA on Delta/WestJet (that’s my next blog post).  Have you had your credit card stolen and activated before you ever received it?  Share your stories in the comment section below.