Consumer complaint received 2024-10-29
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (WA)

I logged into my Capital One online portal on Sunday, XX/XX/year> and noticed a cash withdrawal at a branch location from my Savings account. This savings account does not have an associated debit card and there are no Branch locations in my area, so this was an immediate and very alarming red flag. I immediately called Capital One and had all of my banking accounts locked for further withdrawals. The department I called, Claims, gave me the number to Account Activity who was not available due to it being Sunday and advised I call in Monday- they were unable to process a claim on this transaction they said. At this point I felt like it was being handled properly and had a next step. 

Monday, however, not so much. I called the number for Account Activity who looked at it for a minute and transferred me to Claims who eventually again advised again they couldn't file a claim for this situation and I was then transferred back Account Activity. The transaction on the online portal simply stated cash withdrawal from branch location with no additional data. As in - an IN PERSON withdrawal was made from this account at a verifiable location presumably with security footage. Neither department appeared to know how to handle this situation which resulted in this back and forth. 

I asked both the Claims representative and the Account Activity representative for the address of the location this transaction occurred at so I could file a police report, and neither were able to provide this for some reason. There is not a Branch location in my county, so my police department is not the proper one to file with and I was advised it should be filed where the crime occurred. 

The Account Activity representative, when transferred back to get more information on a timeline for this investigation, then asked me a slurry of online security related questions, repeating them at times, before declaring there must have been a breach of my electronic account despite confirming the following on a recorded line : 1 ) That the signature on the receipt was not my name. When I asked her to spell it for me she simply stated it was too hard to read.

2 ) That it was a CASH WITHDRAWAL at a PHYSICAL LOCATION from someone using a DIFFERENT NAME. 
3 ) That she confirmed from something she was looking at that only a single device - mine - had been accessing the portal.

She went as far to state then HOW ELSE could they have gotten my savings account number as if that would make total sense, I could obtain any account number and just walk into a bank and withdrawal all that accounts money with no verification I was an authorized user. This then turned into her stating I needed to go pay someone to scan my computer for malware before they could make new accounts, which is absolutely absurd given the situation. My home computer is properly secured and regularly scanned for malware, but it is absolutely ludicrous to declare that somehow any amount of electronic precautions could prevent Capital One 's lack of due diligence which has resulted in a person being able to walk into a physical location and out with my money while openly not even pretending to be me. I declined physically taking my computer somewhere to pay someone to scan it for me like I'm XXXX XXXX XXXX when the fraud occurred in-person at a branch location. 

So then we moved to a logical next step which is cancelling the old accounts and making new ones, which I agreed was a good precaution. That was supposedly submitted, but so far, they have only cancelled my unrelated checking account which was not the subject of this fraud. I also specifically asked if the revocation of the online access would also affect my credit card portal and was advised it wouldn't, when in fact yes, my entire access is now down with no timeline for a resolution. 

An in-person withdrawal is a security failure at the physical store level. It is also absurd that on-site transactions do not list the location they were performed at for banking accounts or that this information is at least not easily accessible to these employees who from my understanding are the ones in charge of investigating these matters. 

It makes me very uneasy that neither department knew how to handle this situation. I was also not provided a case number or reference number or anything indicating an investigation was really going to happen after being bounced between the two departments. Claims also stated that Account Activity would be investigating AFTER Account Activity had already tried to kick me over to Claims to handle to begin with but couldnt provide a timeline which resulted with me back in Account Activity which initialed the new account process. 

I have received no further confirmation that this matter is being properly investigated and that this money would be returned to me. Maybe this is being properly handled in the background and it was only the phone reps who were uncertain, but the lack of communication and clear timelines is disconcerting.