Consumer complaint received 2024-05-14
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (MA)

Thursday XXXX I noticed a XXXX check deposit to my joint account with my XXXX  child. At that time I could not see an image of the check. I asked XXXX is she knew what this was, aside from her paychecks she has never deposited any other check into this account. She did not know what it was. I immediately called the bank. I asked if they could tell me what the check was, the name was not anything we recognized. I asked if they could tell me the address, it came up as some Library in XXXX. I asked them to see the signature on the back of the check and they said it did not match XXXXXXXX XXXX signature on her pay checks. I asked to close the account because of the Fraud, they said I could not close the account because of the pending check transaction. I asked if they could freeze the account to prevent anyone from taking money out of the account. They said they could not freeze the account because they did not see any suspicious or fraudulent activity. They said and claim that the check was deposited on XXXXXXXX XXXX mobile app and therefore it is not suspicious. I moved the money in the account over to another Capital One savings account to protect it from being taken by a scammer. Once the check cleared the following day on Friday XX/XX/XXXX I called Capital One again and told them to please close or freeze the account now the check for XXXX ( THE FAKE CHECK ) has cleared and the money is now sitting in the checking account. Now I could see an image of the check and the signature literally says " XXXX  ''. XXXX never signed that check. They told me someone logged in four times between XXXX Wednesday night, at which time I was with XXXX watching tv XXXX XXXX has almost XXXX in the bank with Capital one, I monitor the account daily, she would never even think to deposit a fake check and where would she even get it from. However, Capital one is adamant their technology tells them it was her mobile app that made the deposit. I told them 1000 % we did not deposit this check. I pleaded with them to not allow the money into the account because I was afraid the scammer would pull it out, leaving me out XXXX. They refused to freeze the account, refused to close the account and just wanted me to wait days, weeks, they could not say how long, until they pulled the check back. I told them I was not going to leave the XXXX in the account and they warned me not to move it. However, it is not protected sitting in a compromised account. I moved it to another Capital One account. XXXX and I both deleted the app from our phones and changed our passwords. I insisted that Capital One open a case and look further into the fraud. Monday XX/XX/XXXX I saw the check was recalled by Capital One. I moved the funds back over immediately and I called them to close the account. Overnight I received an email from them saying they have frozen the account because of suspicious activity and to call them right away. I called them and they said they were investigating the case and asked me why I moved the money. I explained again as I did many times before I moved it that it was to protect myself from being scammed for XXXX while Capital One allowed that fake money to sit in a compromised account that they refused to freeze or close. I told them if they would freeze the account I would have no problem leaving the money in there. But so long as someone is able to access the account and take the money and leave me on the hook owing capital one XXXX when they finally caught up that the check was fake, then I was going to have to leave the account with a XXXX balance. I have XXXX savings accounts/CDS with Capital One. I have been a customer for probably about 20 years. This was the first checking account I ever opened with them and only did it for the ease of doing it online for my teen child. I will never open a checking account with them again. I called the police on Friday to report this as well. I spoke to 12 people including managers with Capital one for over 6 hours. They all said the same thing, the check was deposited on the the mobile app on XXXXXXXX XXXX  log in. They would not allow me to close the account because of the pending check and not allow me to freeze the account because there was no suspicious activity. They wanted me to be a sitting duck for this scammer to take the money from the fake check they put in. Shame on them. I told them I expect a phone call back. I expect them to keep looking deeper into this. They are treating us like an accomplice instead of the victims that we are. I surely do not appreciate that and would like a higher power to dig deeper and figure this out. As I mentioned I called the police, I called the MA banking commission but they do not regulate Capital one. I emailed the FDIC and am going to look to file a complaint with them as well. I hope you and your team are able to shed light and get some answers as to how this happened and how to prevent it and protect the consumer in this situation, which Capital One is clearly not able to do.