Consumer complaint received 2026-04-24 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card — Can't use card to make purchases
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
b'Issue: Verification Deadlock\nContext: XXXX XXXX, I was reached out to by an individual (self claimed to be named "XXXX" XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. ) that offered to assist with repayment of my credit card debt. I was provided a routing and account number from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to use, and I added it to my Capital One Credit Card portal, using it to pay $XXXX off my balance. No verification was requested from Capital One at the time of payment. XXXX XXXX Capital One placed my account under restriction and requested a phone call to verify account ownership of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account used. I reached out to "XXXX" and he agreed to hop on a call the following day at noon. \n\nTuesday XXXX XXXX XXXX, :"XXXX" was unable to hop on call, and refused to provide proof of account ownership. Realizing that this was a scam. \n\nSince then, I have made multiple calls to Capital One, reaching out to customer service, getting this escalated to a fraud and dispute manager, and then escalating to a specialist team. All came back with one answer: we cannot lift your restriction without proof of account ownership. I was provided with the explanation that for account safety, they need to verify account ownership of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account despite understanding that I was a victim of the scam and I am unable to verify the bank account. E.g. "I understand you are not the owner of the account, but to lift the restriction you need to provide proof that you are the owner." This continues to go in the same endless circle. XXXX XXXX XXXX, I paid off my full balance and waited for the payment to post, prior to trying again to call. XXXX XXXX XXXX- I removed the XXXX XXXX XXXX card off my portal and called again, receiving the same response that my restriction cannot be lifted due to account ownership verification. This time, the customer service agent described my exact situation, stating that there was a scam going around where the scammer offers to pay off a credit card with a payment that does not go through and then utilizing other methods to take money out of the credit card. The agent explained that Capital One Fraud protection and the restriction was to "protect" the consumer in the event of this scam. However, my question is- if this scam is KNOWN, why wasn\'t verification of the bank account requested BEFORE the payment? or AT payment? \nRegardless, I would like to understand how Capital One expects its consumers to be able to resolve this issue, when the only resolution is to prove ownership of an account that both I, and Capital One agents, acknowledge is not mine, and impossible. The resolution of scenarios similar to mine is, quite literally, impossible. \n\nUnder this restriction, I am unable to use the card, which I am completely fine with. However, my XXXX miles, worth over $XXXX are unable to be used due to this restriction. I am unable to use these points, transfer these points, or apply to my credit card balance. I then asked about a scenario: If by accident, I "overpaid" my balance, resulting in a negative balance, would I be able to get my overpayment back given that my account is restricted? The manager on the other side of the call then proceeded to read that a refund would not be possible due to the restriction. Luckily, I did not overpay. But if I had overpaid, Capital one would be sitting with my money, and wouldn\'t refund me because of this restriction. The manager then proceeded to explain that they would transfer the case to multiple different departments to get the money back to me, if I had overpaid. My question regarding this is then : How is account activity allowed in this scenario? Why can\'t the same methods to allow activity be applied to rewards points usage? \n\nI have also reached out to the following emails, with no response: XXXX\n\nIf the scam and the consequences of the scam are KNOWN to Capital One, why is the victim of the scam being punished and required to provide impossible proof of ownership of an account that both the victim and Capital One is aware don\'t belong to the victim, and therefore making the request impossible? the following risks have been resolved as well: Connected Bank accounts are verified, the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX bank account used in this fraud situation has been REMOVED, and the remaining balance on the card paid off in full, balance is now $XXXX. Does Capital One just not want to allow the consumer to use their rewards points?'

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation