Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

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lulubears May 24, 2008

I got an e-mail from my daughter yesterday, who is vacationing in Canada. She mentioned that her debit and credit cards had been "frozen". Not a good thing being on vacation, as there is no way to pay for hotels, no way to access cash, etc. Thinking this was just an ATM machine glitch, she said she would let me know if she got it worked out.

Early this morning, I got a phone call from her. It turns out there is a HUGE fraud ring operating mainly in Canada (and so far on a smaller scale in some other countries) using debit and/or credit cards issued by Capital One Bank here in the states. ALL debit and credit cards issued by them have been "frozen" and their customers have no access to using them - at least in Canada. I went to the bank, and talked with them, and they are apparently just seeing the tip of this fraud ring. It is apparently so big, they have frozen all of the accounts and are deciding now whether the cards will even be any good to use once they arrive back in the states. They are trying to decide now if they will cancel all cards or re-issue them. What a mess!

I ended up having to withdraw money from her account, take cash to the grocery and send it to her via Western Union. While at the bank, there were three other customers in there with similar situations. Two of them were trying to leave the US to go overseas, and can't use their accounts. The branch manager of the bank was on his way to the store to wire money to a customer who was, like my daughter, stuck in Canada with no access to funds. They can't check into or out of hotels without credit cards. I don't know if other credit cards are being affected, but Capital One is sure taking a hit.

I'm just grateful that I'm on her bank account and was able to take care of it. The branch manager of the bank said they have had a few customers call and they really don't know how to help them out, because they don't have anyone authorized on their accounts to withdraw and send them money. They are in a situation where they will have to have friends or relatives wire them money.

I thought I'd give everyone a heads up, in case anyone ran into a problem using this type of credit card. It appears that the problems really just started yesterday, and the bulk of people will run into problems over the weekend. Since this is a holiday weekend, most won't be able to get any help until Tuesday.

Luann

Newcastle, Ontario
Posts: 5,645

thumperantiques May 24, 2008

Luann,
What a mess! Your daughter is VERY lucky that you have access to her account. I also am listed on my son't account, as he lived overseas for 8 years and would transfer money home to it, and I could take it out to pay his loans, ets. I thought he would want to change it now that he is back, but he says that he's fine with it, and after reading your message, I'm glad to be on as an authorized user.
We used to have a Capital One card but got rid of it. Now we each just have one credit card, that is actually from our local bank. I can't imagine how many people are going to be unlucky and furious on your holiday weekend with no access to funds!!!!! I'm glad you were able to work it out for your daughter!

hugs,

Brenda