Consumer complaint received 2026-02-12 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Privacy issues
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Subject : Continued Account Takeover, Loss of Access for Over One Month, Repeated Security Failures, and Improper Handling of International Transactions I am writing to formally document and escalate the continued and unresolved takeover of my Barclays XXXX XXXX XXXX account. Despite repeated notifications, numerous replacement cards, extensive interaction with customer service, fraud, and security departments, and regulatory escalation, I have been completely unable to access my Barclays online account for over one month while unauthorized parties continue to make material changes to my account.

During this period of lost access, I have received multiple system generated alerts confirming changes that I did not initiate or authorize. These include changes to my username, email address, phone number deletions and additions, the addition of an external bank account, and repeated unauthorized reward point redemptions. These alerts demonstrate that unauthorized parties continue to have active access to my account profile and authentication credentials while I, the rightful account holder, remain locked out.

Over the past six months, my account has been breached a total of seven times. Four of these breaches occurred in XXXX, with additional breaches in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. Each incident resulted in account lockdowns, card cancellations, replacement cards, extended verification calls, and repeated assurances that the account had been secured. Despite these assurances, unauthorized access has persisted, including after regulatory escalation and while I am traveling internationally. 

After finally receiving another replacement card and traveling abroad, I experienced a serious service failure while in XXXX when a legitimate purchase of approximately XXXX XXXX dollars was declined. While standing at the register, I immediately contacted customer service and advised that I was physically at the point of sale attempting to complete the transaction. After verification, the representative questioned me about a prior alert and additional declined activity unrelated to the transaction I was attempting to complete. I explained that I was traveling internationally, not at home, and could not reasonably identify unrelated prior transactions while standing at the register. Despite this, the representative refused to authorize the purchase, advised that another card would need to be issued, and began initiating that process. This resulted in public embarrassment, disruption, and an inability to complete the purchase.

During a subsequent call with another Barclays representative, I explained what had occurred during the XXXX point of sale incident. That representative stated that he did not understand why the transaction had been declined because the alert prompting the questioning was associated with my husbands card and not mine. He further stated that my transaction could have been approved at the register and that any follow up regarding the alert on my husbands card could have been handled later. This confirms that the refusal to authorize my purchase was not required by system limitations but was the result of improper handling by the representative, further contributing to the harm and disruption I experienced.

I contacted Barclays again in an effort to resolve the issue. During that call, the representative ordered another replacement card, updated my account with my international phone number and address, closed the compromised card, and advised that a new card would be sent to my international address. This contradicted prior statements that international shipment was not possible. The representative did not immediately lock the account, stating that he needed to contact the Points Department because additional reward points had again been stolen.

As of today, I have not received the replacement card. Instead, while still unable to log into my account, I received additional alerts confirming unauthorized username and email address changes. These events occurred after account closure and prior to receiving the new card, address and phone number updates, and repeated assurances that corrective action had been taken. This confirms that the account takeover remains active and unresolved and that containment efforts have failed.

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