Consumer complaint received 2018-03-25
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MA
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 Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased merchandise/consumer good " Bitcoin '' in the amount of {$470.00} from XXXX XXXX, a company based in XXXX, XXXX, with my Capital One MasterCard account. Then, on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased merchandise/consumer good " Bitcoin '' in the amount of {$550.00} from XXXX XXXX, a company based in XXXX, XXXX, with the same Capital One MasterCard account. XXXX is a private, speculative, non-cash " Cryptocurrency '' which I purchased for private investment purposes. It is no different than a purchase of any other merchandise item or merchandise item for investment purposes ( i.e. : Classic Automobile, Antique Furniture, Famous Painting, etc. ), and it's value is only based on variable individual human perception. Despite it's description label of being a " currency '', it is NOT a traditional legal tender public currency as regulated, controlled, issued and recognized by established global Governments and their authorized, legal Banking institutions and Monetary Systems. ( Capital One itself DOES NOT even recognize or accept " Bitcoin '' as a legitimate legal tender currency! They WILL NOT accept " Bitcoin '' for payments, deposits, etc.! ) The dispute in question is not about the ( 2 ) above listed Capital One MasterCard charges - they are themselves legitimate. It is regarding the fact that there have been fraudulent charges stated for the record as " CASH ADVANCE INTEREST '' and a " CASH ADVANCE FEE '' for which I have received NO CASH! On XX/XX/XXXX, a FRAUDULENT CASH ADVANCE INTEREST CHARGE of {$2.00} was assessed, then on XX/XX/XXXX, a FRAUDULENT CASH ADVANCE FEE of {$16.00} was assessed, then on XX/XX/XXXX, another FRAUDULENT CASH ADVANCE INTEREST CHARGE of {$6.00} was assessed, and finally on XX/XX/XXXX, another FRAUDULENT CASH ADVANCE INTEREST CHARGE of {$2.00} was assessed. The grand total of these fraudulent charges comes to {$28.00}. When I contacted Capital One directly by telephone regarding these fraudulent fees/charges, they adamantly refused to do anything about these charges, AND STILL REFUSE TO - thus breaking U.S. law. ( It is also noteworthy how a Big Bank feels it can break or add to or amend U.S. Law at will, isn't it?! ) They also refused to give any legal proof that " Bitcoin '' is in fact legal tender " cash '', neither could they tell me where I received this legal tender " cash ''. CASH, as defined by XXXXXXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, is : " Ready money ; whatever can be used as money without being converted into another form ; that which circulates as money, including bank-bills. XXXX v. XXXX, XXXX XXXX. XXXX ; XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. XXXX ; XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. ( XXXX ) XXXX ; XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. ( N. Y. ) XXXX. '' As you can CLEARLY see, " Bitcoin '' does NOT fit this legal definition whatsoever! These illegal and arrogant actions by Capital One obviously constitute both FRAUD and THEFT, and DEMAND is hereby made that Capital One IMMEDIATELY withdraw these four FRAUDULENT and illegitimate " CASH ADVANCE '' related charges and credit back to my account the full amount due of {$28.00} without any further delay WHATSOEVER! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER will these Complaints cease until Capital One withdraws these four ( AND ANY FUTURE RELATED ) FRAUDULENT and illegitimate " CASH ADVANCE '' related charges, does the right and just thing, and credits back to my account the full amount due! ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT NOTATIONS & QUESTIONS : 1. ) The Cash Advance Limit on my Account is {$150.00}. Maximum, so how is it that I was able  to obtain {$470.00}. and {$550.00}. Cash Advances on my account? 2. ) Is Capital One a Legislative Body? When did the U.S. Government grant Capital One autonomous authority to determine what constitutes public, legal tender mediums of exchange? Capital One claims that Capital One abides by all applicable laws and regulations, so by what authority are they able to do that? 3. ) The Coinage Act of XX/XX/XXXX, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled " Legal tender, '' which states : " United States coins and currency ( including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks ) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. '' Cash therefore is in actual physical form which one has on hand. Could Capital One tell me or the CFPB where I received the cash? I dont see Cryptocurrencies mentioned in the Coinage Act of XX/XX/XXXX, so if theyre claiming Bitcoin is legal tender, why would Capital One legitimize and condone a counterfeit form of cash? 4. ) Cryptocurrencies are private de-centralized all digital means of exchange. Currently there is NO formal U.S. Government authorized currency recognition or status afforded to any cryptocurrency. So why is Capital One claiming by their actions that Bitcoin is legal tender? 5. ) In a letter Capital One sent to me, dated XX/XX/XXXX ( attached ), Capital One stated : " A cash advance is not a regular credit card charge. A cash advance allows you to withdraw cash from an ATM, bank or by using checks given to you by the issuer for use when paying with your card is not an option. You may be required to pay a transaction fee as well as interest charges. Your purchases from Bitstamp.net for Bitcoin Purchases are viewed a Quasi Cash. A quasi cash transaction is a transaction representing a merchants sale of items that are directly convertible to cash. '' Note how they state - withdraw cash FROM AN ATM, BANK, CAPITAL ONE CHECKS so then they must be able to provide the ATM or BANK location, or a COPY of the canceled checks! They also state that Bitcoin is Quasi cash representing items directly convertible to cash if this is true, then how could Bitcoin items be cash if theyre not actually cash but only items? They also state that " quasi cash ... [ is ] directly convertible to cash. '' But according to XXXX XXXX XXXX, CASH is NOT convertible! ( CASH, as defined by XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, is : " Ready money ; whatever can be used as money without being converted into another form ;. )

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation