Consumer complaint received 2017-12-10
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
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:
Capital One has illegally held me responsible for {$180.00} in clearly fraudulent charges on my Capital One credit card. On XX/XX/2017, at XXXX XXXX, I was the victim of an armed robbery, on a XXXX train while commuting to work. The robber held a gun to my chest, threatened my life, and stole my bag with my phone, credit cards, passport, and other possessions. I immediately reported the crime to the police. Among the stolen items was my Capital One credit card. I canceled the credit card later that same day, but before it was canceled, the robber made two fraudulent purchases by using the card at a XXXX pharmacy, one for {$110.00} and one for {$70.00}. 

As I was required to, I told Capital One that the charges were fraudulent, and I explained that I had been robbed at gunpoint and that my card had been stolen. I told Capital One these facts at least four times - twice via the Capital One website, and twice via a phone conversation, all shortly after the robbery occurred. Capital One accepted my explanation, canceled the card, and sent me a new card via mail. I also reported the fraudulent charges to the police ( XXXX police department ). The police got surveillance video from the XXXX in question, proving that it was the robber who had charged the card, not me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Capital One then mailed me a letter. The letter stated that my card was " used at a functioning chip-enabled reader for the purchases ''. This was, of course, not surprising, since the physical card had been stolen from me ( as I had reported to them earlier, multiple times ). The letter then said, " Since your card was n't reported as lost or stolen, we were n't able to conclude that this was fraudulent activity. '' Therefore, Capital One said, I would be held responsible for the charges. This was completely inaccurate, since I had in fact reported my card as stolen to Capital One, multiple times, shortly after the robbery happened. 

I then tried to contact Capital One, to correct the obvious error. The letter did not give me any way to dispute Capital One 's statement by submitting documents or the other evidence I had. It gave me no way to contact Capital One at all, except for a phone number with a designated extension. I tried calling this phone number, multiple times, during Capital One 's stated business hours. Every time I called, no one picked up the phone. Since Capital One apparently did not want to talk to me, I left a voicemail at that number explaining ( again ) what had happened - I had been a robbery victim, the card had been physically stolen from me, and the robber had made fraudulent purchases. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from Capital One, stating only that my claim " had been resolved ''. Satisfied, I thought my explanation had ( again ) been accepted. However, shortly afterwards, I received another letter from Capital One. It stated that Capital One had " completed the fraud investigation '', and that from " research into [ my ] case '', they had found " no indications of fraud ''. They then stated that the {$180.00} in fraudulent charges was my responsibility, and would be billed to me on my next credit card statement. This letter completely ignored my repeated statements that I was the victim of an armed robbery, and again, gave me no opportunity to submit the police report I had or any other evidence. The statement that they had done " research '' into my " case '' was, frankly, laughable, as this " research '' apparently did not involve allowing me to speak to them, or listening to my voicemails. As of this writing, this is the last I have heard from Capital One on this matter, and they continue to illegally hold me responsible for the fraudulent charges.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation