Consumer complaint received 2025-06-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
Subject : Barclaycard requiring copy of social security card or 1040 via unsecure methods I am filing a formal complaint against Barclaycard regarding the handling of a fraudulent charge on my Arrival Plus Card. Despite promptly reporting the charge, Barclaycard locked me out of my account and demanded sensitive personal information ( social security card or 1040 ) via unsecure methods ( email, fax, or postal service ) to verify my identity. They are also refusing me to close the account until I send a copy of my social security card or 1040 document to them. They refuse to provide me with written confirmation and instructions on this process and where to send this information. I am receiving emails to check my online account for various notifications but I am locked out of the account. I can not gain access until I comply with sending PII via unsecure methods. 

Barclaycard admits they lack secure encryption technology for handling this PII data and refuse to offer alternative secure methods or alternate methods of verification. This situation is alarming and contradicts their advertised commitment to protecting customer data as they advertise here : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX In addition to the fraudulent online charge, they state that someone accessed the account and altered contact information, which is the reason for verifying of my identity. 

The phone number on the website was updated by my wife, XXXX XXXX XXXX. She added her phone number on the Barclaycard website while checking for fraud due to receiving suspicious spam emails. She is a cardholder on my account. After logging in to our shared account, she was prompted to review contact information before proceeding. She added XXXX because her name lacked a phone number, aiming to secure the account. She did not change my information. 

We have XXXX bills indicating ownership of my phone XXXX and her phone XXXX. We are happy to provide these billing statements if needed and there is a screenshot further below to show ownership of these two numbers. 

The computer IP address that was used to update the information is the same IP address we use on a regular basis to log into Barclaycard and can be confirmed by Barclaycard if they conduct this research. I am also happy to provide this IP address directly to them to assist and confirm. They should also have call logs from the XXXX phone number calling to Barclaycard for various matters over the years. This was not a breach of my account. The fraud is on the stolen card transaction, not logging into the account. If they truly need to verify my identity they should provide a secure, encrypted method or allow other documentation to do so without transmitting PII over unsecure email, fax or postal service. 

I am requesting access to my account and restoring my credit card ( new card number is fine ) through a reasonable method and a review of the historical phone ownership and IP address logins to prove what has happened. Providing a social security number is unnecessary for verifying identity via these logs or even at all. If the provided information is insufficient, I request the ability to have a secure transmission method or to submit alternative documentation proving my identity without a social security number. I request that a case manager from Barclaycard contact me to work this out in a reasonable manner. I also want to know the balance on my account so that I may pay it as I no longer have access to the account. This is an unfortunate way that Barclaycard is treating its long standing customer and is not in the spirit of the Patriot Act for security.

In review of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau I notice that there are similar complaints about Barclaycard demanding social security cards via unsecure methods when updating a phone online. It appears that Barclaycard has an outdated technology problem when customers are updating phone numbers which is similar to my situation. Given this known issue, Barclaycard needs to stop requesting PII over unsecure methods. They are exposing their customers to the very risk of fraud they are supposed to be protecting. 

case XXXX from XXXX case XXXX from XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation