Consumer complaint received 2022-01-07
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: NC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed two suspicious charges to my Barclaycard CashForward Mastercard, both with a transaction date of XX/XX/XXXX, so I contacted Barclays ( XXXX ) to dispute the charges and to notify them of unauthorized activity on my account. The unauthorized charges were for two cash advances in the amount of {$200.00} each taken out and charged toward a XXXX XXXX XXXX. There were also two {$10.00} cash advance fees associated with the unauthorized transactions that I was disputing ... a total of {$420.00} worth of unauthorized transactions. 

The representative took my information, issued a new replacement credit card number, opened a case with Barclays fraud department ( Case ID : XXXX ) and placed a provisional credit back on my account. When I next checked my online account information, there was only a provisional credit of {$210.00} ( half of the total unauthorized transactions ) so I called back on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX before finally getting a representative to place a provisional credit for the remaining unauthorized {$210.00} on my account ( Case ID : XXXX ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX ( XXXX ) stating that on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( a company that I have purchased from in the past ) became aware of a potential data security incident and partnered with XXXX to do independent computer forensics as part of an internal investigation. On XX/XX/XXXX, the investigation determined that payment card information was obtained without authorization on XX/XX/XXXX, and on XX/XX/XXXX, the investigation determined that my payment card information including my name, address, payment card number, expiration date, and payment card security code may have been obtained. This information, coinciding with the unauthorized transactions on my Barclaycard Mastercard account on XX/XX/XXXX, leads me to believe that my card information was indeed obtained in the XXXX XXXX data breach and then used to take out the cash advances for XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Barclays stating that their fraud investigation was complete and they found the disputed activity to be valid, thus they were reversing the provisional credit ( s ) and placing the amount owed back on the account. They have also now attached an additional {$5.00} interest charge on the cash advances to my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the XXXX number on the letter and spoke with a representative in Barclays fraud department who stated that their investigation showed that my card, which was never out of my possession, had to have been present at the time of the cash advances taken out with XXXX XXXX XXXX. The representative told me that my only recourse was to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX and dispute the charge with XXXX XXXX. When I called the XXXX XXXX  number the representative stated that I would have to contact the fraud department but there was no telephone number for that department and I would need to send an email to XXXX. 

My efforts to get these {$420.00} worth of unauthorized charges removed from my account have been fruitless thus far dealing with Barclays. On their website they claim, " Use your card with confidence ... Count on Barclays ' {$0.00} Fraud Liability protection. With our fraud liability coverage, you aren't responsible for unauthorized purchases made with your card that you report to us. It doesn't matter if your card is lost, stolen or breached - online or offline - you're protected. '' I did as they requested, reported the unauthorized activity as soon as I noticed it on my account, but Barclays doesn't seem to be following through on their stated protections, nor are they maintaining my confidence at the moment.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief