Consumer complaint received 2025-02-23 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MI

Complaint narrative:
I saw a XXXX post on a friend 's account offering to sell cars and equipment. It was posed as a favor he was doing for a elderly uncle. The original post asked for a deposit to reserve a purchase until it could be viewed at a later date. The deposit was said to be fully refundable if I decided to not purchase the cars. I reached out on XXXX XXXX, and the " friend '' said to pay the deposit via the XXXX XXXX XXXX feature in XXXX. I did for the amount of {$2500.00} on XX/XX/year>. There was additional money as a finance fee charged by XXXX that brought the total charge to {$2500.00} that was charged to my Capitol One credit card, and paid to the ultimate " seller '' via XXXX. 

The " seller '' requested more money. I became suspicious, and confirmed that this was a scam. The XXXX account was hacked, and all the information was false. I can prove all these things with screenshots of the post, the friend 's wife 's post saying his account had been hacked, the promise of a refundable deposit, etc. I eventually talked to the actual friend, and he verbally confirmed on the phone that it was a scam. 

I tried reaching out on XXXX XXXX asking for my deposit back, but was promptly blocked by the scammer. 

I submitted disputes to both XXXX and Capital One. There have been a few responses, documents shared since then. I can provide specifics if necessary, but the dispute is in both XXXX and Capital One systems. However, in the end I am receiving conflicting statements from these entities. 

XXXX is saying that it is an " externally filed '' dispute ( to Capital One ), and that it is fully Capital One 's responsibility to remedy. Capital One says that because the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX feature was used to " purchase '' goods, that I violated the user agreement of XXXX, and therefore have no protection. 

Further, according to XXXX 's own dispute resolution system, they show that the actual " seller '' said they had refunded the money to me, which they have not. Also when I questioned XXXX customer service about if this account had been flagged as a scammer before my transaction, they said I would have to file a subpoena to get that information. 

The scammer account is still active, and customer service was not at all inquisitive as to whether or not I had proof that it was a scam account. They only offered to accept my proof after I specifically requested that they take the information and investigate so that they can close the account and save others the trouble. 

I have no way of knowing the history of this account, or if XXXX knew this was a suspicious account before my activity. 

I would also say that the customer service at both companies has been dreadful. They rarely answer questions directly, and they use jargon that is difficult to understand. They have been little to no help piecing together what is needed to secure a chargeback. 

I've filed complaints regarding this matter with the FTC and the Internet Crime Complaint Center. 

In my own research it seems that I still have some protections under the Fair Credit Reporting Act due to both the confirmed and provable deception and also that I did not receive any goods from this transaction. 

I'm turning to this complaint process to help me work something out because I feel that both companies involved are not cooperating and obviously have little interest in helping me as it is unlikely they can secure the money from the scammer account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation