Consumer complaint received 2019-06-08
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:
I am a customer with Capital One and I have a XXXX credit card. I logged into my online account to check my statement around noon on XX/XX/2019 and noticed fraudulent charges pending from three vendors on my online card statement all charged that same day on XX/XX/2019. 

The charges in dispute are as follows and are all from XX/XX/XXXX : 1 ) XXXX XXXX XXXX for {$340.00} ( zip code of store provided on statement ) 2 ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for {$2.00} ( zip code provided on statement and matches the one for the XXXX charge ) 3 ) XXXX   XXXX for {$5.00} ( presumably an online service ; I do not hold an account with that company ) 4 ) XXXX   XXXX for {$14.00} ( so two separate searches  ) I called Capital One immediately thereafter, the same day that these charges appeared, to dispute them. I was completely certain that I had not made these charges as I had not left my house that morning and I still had my card in my possession, so I knew it was not physically stolen either. I explained the situation to a Capital One fraud representative and they agreed to credit my account for the transactions ( applied XX/XX/XXXX to my account ). 

The matter appeared to be resolved as I had seen that the credit for these purchases appeared on my final monthly statement from XX/XX/2019. However, I logged in again today on XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX XXXX  to check my account after going shopping at the mall and saw that the fraudulent transactions had been reapplied to my account on XX/XX/XXXX and were now appearing on my XX/XX/2019 statement. I called Capital One 's fraud department today XX/XX/2019 at XXXX to ask why these charges were reappearing and spoke to a fraud representative who was named XXXX . He said that the merchant credit had been applied to my account and reassured me that everything was in order and made no mention of the result of an investigator 's  findings ( relevant info from my 2nd call described below ). 

I then decided to go ahead and try to pay my balance for the month online but noticed the amount requested matched the total of the fraudulent charges ( as they are the only current outstanding amounts ). I called Capital One 's fraud department immediately again at XXXX XXXX  and spoke with a different representative named XXXX to get them to double check the information I had been given by the previous representative, XXXX. 

I explained to XXXX the call I just had with XXXX and how it seemed that I am still being asked to pay for these charges online. He said he would look into the matter and placed me on hold. When he returned, he said that the investigator who was handling my initial fraud claim had deemed that the charges were legitimate and that I would be responsible for paying them. I protested stating that I knew for a fact they were not legitimate and I refused to pay for fraudulent charges. XXXX asked me if I had ever lost my card or if I knew whether I had my card on me the day the charges were incurred and I responded that because I have never lost my physical card and had never gone to the stores in question and had called same day to report it, I knew I was not the one who made those purchases. I also stated that I did not know how the fraud could have occurred if they could not swipe my card. 

XXXX then responded in a rather accusatory tone that my card probably could not have been swiped as it has a chip which secures it and that that was most likely the reason why the investigator deemed the charges legitimate as it must have been me that used it. He said the decision of the investigator was final and I would need to pay. I responded that I am not an expert in credit card fraud so I do not know exactly how someone could have cloned my card, but this card does not require a pin number to use so presumably it is possible to do so and that I now had great concern that Capital One 's chip cards are not as secure as stated. 

I requested to either be escalated to a manager or to be able to speak with the investigator to discuss the matter further and that I would not be paying for charges that I did not incur. I also said that I have been a reliable customer with Capital One for years and fraudulent charges have never happened before. I stated that I had just used my card today, XX/XX/2019, at XXXX, XXXX, and online at XXXX and would of course be willing to pay for those legitimate charges and asked whether someone would be able to separate out the fraudulent ones as we continue to try to resolve it. I did not receive a clear answer about that and XXXX after giving me the contact information of the investigator and her business hours, was quick to end the call. 

I intend on calling XXXX XXXX, the investigator, on Monday to see if I can dispute the charges and get them removed from my account. I am filing this report as I am now very alarmed that Capital One seems to believe that their chips are completely secure and are a basis to deny a fraud claim. I am afraid to continue doing business with this company as they are clearly not secure nor willing to acknowledge that fact and seem to want to stick me with these charges. I do not intend on paying for these fraudulent charges and am very worried that this matter will negatively affect my credit score, which is in good standing. 

I hope that the investigator will be responsive and able to resolve the matter, but even if they do agree to remove the charges I will likely terminate my account with Capital One as they do not seem to offer security nor consumer protections. 

I also am now seeing that while they credited me for the XXXX XXXX for {$14.00} on my XX/XX/XXXX statement and that charge has not reappeared, the XXXX {$5.00} charge ( also credited on my XX/XX/XXXX statement ) was reapplied to my XX/XX/XXXX statement on XX/XX/XXXX, which I had made an early payment for on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not notice until just now while writing this report that I ended up paying for that {$5.00} ( along with two other legitimate payments ). I am now worried that the {$14.00} will reappear as well in the future. This is unacceptable and unprofessional behavior from Capital One.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief