CapitalOne replacing my card due to suspected fraudulent activity

pinklady21

Hi everyone
Just received a rather odd letter from Cap1.
I use their card for all spending - in person and online - and pay it off every month (cashback you see!)
Anyway - I have not noticed any strange activity on the account, but Cap1 have written to me to advise they are replacing my card with another one with a new expiry date and security code but same a/c number.
Won't tell me why exactly, but due to suspected fraudulent activity.
Don't phone us, our staff can't tell you anything....???

Any idea why this might be? Has someone somewhere compromised my details? Should I be worried?
Has anyone else had this?
Thanks!

pqrdef

Perhaps a suspected computer hack or bent employee has been detected and there's a list of card details that may have been nicked, but nothing more specific.

SnowTiger

pinklady21 wrote: »

Any idea why this might be? Has someone somewhere compromised my details? Should I be worried?
Has anyone else had this?

It happened to me last year. Two of my cards were replaced. My Capital One and my Granite (Vanquis) cards.

I only use them at regular stores and on well known website.

There's been a (suspect) security breach somewhere. It may not have even happened, but it's a precautionary measure.

I doubt it only affects you and I doubt you have anything to be concerned about. These things happen.

pinklady21

Well - turns out I did have something to worry about - a rogue transaction has just appeared on my account - over £1000 to "Southall Travel", a company I have never heard of and had no dealings with.

Cap1 has already replaced my card, and get this, sent out the new one already activated. I assume the fraudulent transaction has gone onto the new card as it happened after Cap1 sent the new card to me.

Sounds like someone within Capital 1 is doing something naughty with card details.
I await a call back from their Fraud Dept.....

[Deleted User]

pinklady21 wrote: »

Sounds like someone within Capital 1 is doing something naughty with card details.

Unlikely. More likely they have seen a pattern from cards used at a certain merchant and are replacing all those cards used there. The transaction will probably have been from the old card details, and will now be appearing on the account.

pinklady21

But why would they send out a card already activated when they have previously written to advise they have concerns about activity on the account?
That does not sound right to me at all!
It even has the "call us to activate the card" sticker on it, and the first I knew it was already active was when I called them to ask them to activate it!

[Deleted User]

Their concerns are over the old card, rather than the new one. Remember that transactions are card based, rather than account based. So they would appear to trust that the cards are getting to you ok, its just where you're using it that they're not so sure about.

meer53

pinklady21 wrote: »

Sounds like someone within Capital 1 is doing something naughty with card details.
I await a call back from their Fraud Dept.....

Why do you assume it's someone at Cap1 ? More likely to be a retailer you have used previously.

CKhalvashi

Deleted_User wrote: »

Unlikely. More likely they have seen a pattern from cards used at a certain merchant and are replacing all those cards used there. The transaction will probably have been from the old card details, and will now be appearing on the account.

However I will make this clear, that the company looks genuine (I can't verify 100%)

See here and here.

It could be a case of suspicious spending patterns that has triggered this, or it could be for the reasons mentioned above.

My card always auto declines on the John Lewis website, for example, as it is one that fraudsters are known to use.

CK

[Deleted User]

I wasn't suggesting that Southall Travel were the culprits. More that another merchant has developed a habit of misusing customer card details and subsequently use them elsewhere for their own nefarious purposes (for holidays in Southall or wherever they may fancy).

Be_Happy

I don't have a Capital 1 card now, but during the years when I did have, they were really on the ball over this.

Twice I had phone call from fraud department.

Once to verify if I had made a transaction of 59p - I hadn't and card was replaced and secondly to say that my card was on a list of cards 'compromised' on a website (they wouldn't say which one, but I could guess from newspaper reports) and would be replaced.