Jolt Country

I have a story.

I tried to make a purchase on one of my (spare) credit cards that was declined. I got it fixed with the bank's fraud department, the agent saying there are a number of reasons why it can be flagged. So I said I understood, and asked if I could tell her a credit card fraud flag story. She said yes. Here's the story.

One of the people who participates in the Cannonball Run illegal national speed race, was using a very large fuel tank in his car, big enough to allow them to only have to make 4 stops instead of 10. As a fuel stop can take 6-10 minutes, this could be a big help. So, they fill up before the start, using his American Express card. About two-three hours later, they stop to take a leak, buy some hot food, and refill the tank. This refuel means they don't have to stop in certain parts of the country. Well, his American Express card is declined. That should not happen; he pays his bill on time and does not have a lot of outstanding charges pending. So he calls American Express. Seems that Amex's fraud department noticed two gas purchases over 300 miles apart within a very short time, and no commercial planes are flying between the two cities that would allow a connection fast enough to make it, and it's obviously too fast for auto traffic. He tells the agent, "Yes, it is me, and I can't explain right now, there will be a few more of these purchases, the card is not going to leave my possession over the next few days, so please put a note in my file that these will.be authorized purchases."

In short, he had outrun American Express' fraud algorithm!

So here are the questions for Pinback. American Express could have the times of every commercial flight in the country, but, in theory if I'm not mistaken he could have been in a helicopter or private plane as those flights especially if the flight is from one airport to another where neither have manned control towers, are not required to file flight plans. Is that correct, partially correct, or totally erroneous?

If flight plans are required, those are not public record, are they?

asked if I could tell her a credit card fraud flag story. She said yes.

(puts phone down, goes to take a dump and a coffee refill)

So, let's unpack this one.

The American Express credit card in this story belonged to Ed Bolian, who broke the Cannonball Run speed record in 2013. Bolian has told this story on several occasions. Here's a copy of the story as told by Bolian on a 2020 episode of "Criminal":

American Express froze all my credit cards. Because as soon as I swiped it, they saw within eight hours of the last charge, I was between two places that couldn't have been reached by airplane. And I guess they have advanced enough algorithms to tell that there were no flights scheduled or flight patterns that could have gotten me there. And so, I got all these fraud alerts. And I'm yelling to the guys that are in there using the bathroom, like, 'Hey, get out here with another credit card or some cash. We got to get this thing filled up.'

Note that Ed says "I guess" that's why American Express cancelled his credit card. In reality he didn't know why they cancelled his card. If whomever he spoke to at American Express had cancelled his card for that reason, he would mention that fact when he tells the story. And he doesn't.

As you (Tdarcos) yourself just experienced, credit cards can (and do) get flagged for lots of reasons. One of the most common reasons cards get flagged and deactivated is for "suspicious" activity, with "suspicious" being defined as activity that does not follow a person's normal spending behavior.

In 2012, my family took a cruise to Alaska that left from Seattle. We spent 2-3 days driving from Oklahoma to Seattle. Prior to leaving on our trip, we called our credit union, explained we were going on a trip, and asked them not to deactivate our cards. They said they would put a note in our file noting the fact. We left Oklahoma, got gas in Kansas, and by the time we got to Denver, our cards had been deactivated. We had to call the credit union, explain the situation, and within a few minutes our cards were re-enabled. By the time we got to Seattle, it happened a second time. That time, we had to call the credit union and explain the situation while we were standing at the hotel's front counter.

I can assure you 100%, our Honda Odyssey did not make the trip from Oklahoma to Seattle faster than a commercial jet. I've had my card disabled on other road trips, and at least once after ordering an expensive item directly from China.

Bolian tells his story that way because it's a good story and it's a fun idea to tell people you drove faster than a plane could get there, but there is 0% chance American Express is monitoring flight schedules, and 100% chance they disable people's credit cards based on suspicious behavior, like paying for hundreds of dollars worth of gas in two different states on the same day.