Consumer complaint received 2020-12-29
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
An electronic transfer from XXXX was initiated on XXXX XXXX 2020 to a " XXXX XXXX '' in the amount of {$750.00}. We do not use XXXX nor did we initiate this transfer. We also don't know a XXXX XXXX. This began our journey into the world of identity theft. Steps taken : 1. I have contacted Capital One 360 checking to file a fraud claim within hours of seeing this fraud 2. The claim was denied due to the following evidence ( it was said that my wife initiated the transfer on her phone using 2 factor authentication ). I am assuming this is what the evidence said because I have never been sent anything official stating the investigation results. MY WIFE DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS TRANSFER AND A BREIF LOOK AT OUR CHECKING HISTORY WOULD SHOW THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY HISTORY OF EVEN USING THIS XXXX  OPTION. 
3. I filed an elevated claim which was also denied for the same reason. I also had to call them and wait over an hour to speak to someone because there has been no communication directed from Capital One on this issue.

4. I requested another claim because by this point we had collected copious amounts of fraudulent charges on our credit cards, new checking accounts, pay pal accounts, and almost every other aspect of our financial life.

5. I called to check on the claim results ( again because capital one didn't communicate with me ) and and hour later I was told that I have exhausted all my claims and am going to have to pay back the money. I requested to speak to the investigator or someone of elevation but was not allowed to do so.

6. I locked the debit card associated with this account immediately upon uncovering this fraudulent charge as well as ordering a new card and changing the login info.

7. Capital One froze the account while it was under investigation. I now wish to close the account due to the fear that it will be compromised again. Capital One refused to unfreeze the account. They said it must be paid to {$0.00} balance and they would close it out themselves. They also said that the only way I can pay the balance ( - {$500.00} ) is by mail. I wasn't able to transfer any money into the account due to it being frozen and their unwillingness to unfreeze it.

8. We have placed a freeze on both credits ( my wife and I ) 9. We have filed a police report on two separate unauthorized charges including the one questioned in this complaint.

10. We have locked all credit cards 11. We have ordered replacement cards for all credit cards 12. We have changed all logins and password for all financial institutions we bank with 13. We filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission 14. We have filed a claim for the XXXX  data breach settlement The following information concerns evidence showing we have been victims of identity theft. It is my belief that Capital One 's " investigators '' either haven't done a complete job or have simply ignored all the evidence and focused in on the first piece of evidence they could find that best benefits their interests. 

My wife first recognized something was wrong when her debit card was denied at a local vendor. When she called, they said a fraudulent charge was attempted in the amount of approx. {$2000.00} to a vendor we had never used so they froze the card. Makes you wonder why they didn't use that same cautiousness when the fraudulent {$750.00} transfer was sent to " XXXX XXXX. '' That same night, I received an alert text stating that a charge was attempted on my card for another approx {$1500.00} charge. This is the moment I knew that Capital One had lost the ability to protect my money. This brought me to check my account thus revealing the " XXXX XXXX '' XXXX fraudulent transfer. '' This began a multi-week process and several hours on the phone trying to get this corrected. During this time, other credit companies started calling stating that other fraudulent charge had been attempted in the same amounts and to the same vendors as the ones that were attempted on the Capital One account. This alone, should have been enough evidence for Capital One to return the {$750.00} and see that we are under financial attack. My wife 's personal information was changed on her pay pal and this also happened on another credit card. 
Due to still needing to pay bills, we couldn't wait any longer on Capital One to come to a conclusion and unfreeze the account ( first frozen by Capital One because they said it was compromised, meaning they admit themselves that the accounts was under attack. " An account takeover '' was their words ) we decided to open a new account with a new bank. 
After doing this, ( which was a much more difficult process than it sounds due to having to change account information with my creditors and bill collectors, etc ) we began having multiple fraudulent charges on the new account that we just opened. These charges were from XXXX transfers for over {$600.00} in small but multiple withdrawals. Another {$2500.00} was taken by check fraud. The check had my signature on the front and the back ( that alone should not have made it able to be cashed ). 
We also have had around {$1800.00} transfer using a XXXX check. ( we don't use XXXX  for checking and have never had checks from XXXX. ) This was the second fraudulent check cashed on the account in a month. 
This individual or entity then attempted several more fraudulent charges nearing {$10000.00}. By this point, the account was overdrawn more than {$1000.00} and the charges didn't go through but I was charged NSF fees for each charge. 
Thankfully, the bank has given back all the money taken from my checking. I am still fighting with XXXX over some additional unauthorized charges. However, the {$750.00} from Capital One is the only money actually taken directly from my checking account that I have not been able to get back. I feel that Capital One should look at ALL the evidence before making a decision. I don't know why or where they are getting that my wife approved this transfer on her phone because she 100 %, absolutely, unequivocally, DID NOT approve the transfer to a person we don't even know using an app we have had no history of using. We have now changed to our third checking account and my wife and I have separate accounts now to help slow down the federal crimes being committed against us. We have to take all our money out in cash on payday and have a relative pay our bills using their checking account just to be sure our money is safe. I feel that we have taken more than enough steps to prove our innocence on this {$750.00} charge and have submitted all the evidence mentioned above to Capital One as well for their review. ( Even after being told my the customer service rep with Capital One that it wouldn't help. ) We know of nothing else we can do or no one else to turn to other than a lawyer and the legal fees make that an option we can't exercise and I feel that Capital One know this and just thinks I will lay down just because they say so. Capital One is in a much better position to eat this debt than I am with a family of 4, during a pandemic, and during XXXX. I have even tried to negotiate and see if they would just XXXX  out the account and eat the {$500.00} that the account was overdrawn to due to the {$750.00} fraudulent transfer. They were not interested. I simply ask that someone see use as a family and not a bank account number and look at our entire situation which has identity theft written all over it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation