American Express SEVERAL UNAUTHORIZED CREDIT REPORT CHECKS EL PASO, Texas

There are a couple of different types of Credit Checks

A "Soft Inquiry" is on that is used for things such as "Pre-Approvals".  They only get a limited amount of information based on broad selection criteria.  Because this is not an actual request by you these have zero effect on your credit report or score, and are only seen by you.   You can stop these "Pre-Screen" type of inquiries by going to optoutprescreen.com.  If by some chance the site is redacted you can search "opt out pre screen" (but take out the spaces) in your favorite search engine.  This is a free service by the Credit Reporting Agencies so if you end up at a site that is charging you..you are at the wrong one.

Then there is a "Hard Inquiry".  This is where you have specifically requested credit.  Since this is a request for Credit it can effect your Credit Report and Score.  It is also seen by other creditors.  However, inquiries are a very small fraction of your overall score so a few inquiries is going to have minimal impact on your overall score.

Now, there is also cases when you have something like a credit card you give them authorization(per the terms) for them to do periodic credit checks.  These checks can also be triggered if you are delinquent and they want to try and obtain more current information on you.

If you don't have AmEx, never applied for Credit and this is a "Hard Inquiry" you may be a victim of Identity Theft and need to investigate it further.