capital one credit card imposes its membership

[pianistimo]

my husband and i did not order a 'capital one' credit card.  we get one in the mail and it says - if you want to close your account - call this number.  we never opened an account.  how can they open an account without our consent.

isn't there a place to complain about this?  i don't know what to do.  at first i called the number - but then they wanted me to input the number off the credit card.  then, i hung up because i don't even want that number attached to my name.

will this open account go onto our credit report.  will we be responsible for an account we never opened.  how can capital one increase identity theft problems (should a card be stolen in the mail - when someone doesn't even know they are getting it)? 

do consumers have rights anymore?

(perhaps this is not the best part of capitalism and i shouldn't have put it above my othe r thread.  but i am curious what to do about this).

[counterpoint]

If they don't have your signature, the "credit card" is just a piece of plastic.
You have the right to ignore it 

[pianistimo]

you relieved my mind immensely!  i hid the card - but i think i will cut it up.  how can i insure that noone else will receive any of these cards and sign them?  how can i make sure they don't do this again?

[counterpoint]

  how can i make sure they don't do this again?

I guess, you can do nothing. There will always be some scoundrels, who make people believe for example, they have to pay money for things they haven't ordered. You can report it to the police. But they can't hinder other scoundrels in advance from doing the same thing.

[prometheus]

How can i insure that noone else will receive any of these cards and sign them?  how can i make sure they don't do this again?

Pray to Jesus, obviously.

[berrt]

if you want to close your account - call this number. 

"this number" probably is a charged one

B.

[johnny-boy]

Hi Pianistimo!

Good thing you didn't input the number when you called. It would have activated your account with them. I'd turn them in to the Better Business Bureau. You can do it online here:  https://www.bbb.org/

Best, John

[pianistimo]

thank you very much.  i thought the better business bureau went out of business 15 years ago.  i guess they are still around?  also, could one complain to anyone high up in the credit or banking industry.  what bank does capital one go through?  btw, i think it is a foreign bank now - because they also had the audacity to claim they could offer an extremely low FIXED interest rate.

[soliloquy]

I wouldn't call the number the card tells you to.  Instead I would call Capital One's head office.  If you never ordered a Capital One card and they're asking for your info saying you did, it sounds like some scam that you definitely don't want to get caught up in.


But definitely look up Capital One's customer support number online and call THERE.  Even if you're not interested in any of it, if it is indeed a scam then alerting Capital One could save a lot of people, and of course Capital One itself, a ton of grief.

[pianistimo]

ok.  but, how can i prove that i didn't order the card.  it's their word against mine.  and, they'll say 'here, let me cancel it.'  then ask for the number.

[thalbergmad]

ok.  but, how can i prove that i didn't order the card.  it's their word against mine.  and, they'll say 'here, let me cancel it.'  then ask for the number.

In the UK, they would have to prove you did. This is terrible marketing and appears to be a typical attempt to encourage you to get into debt.

The rules for financial advertising would appear to be a little more strict in England, and we now have a Financial Ombudsman that does act.

When i was working in a Bank, we used to send credit agreements to customers so that they just had to sign. Money could be offered up to a computer generated credit limit, no matter whether the customer actually had the ability to repay.

When the Financial Services Act was updated a few years back, several tactics were banned, including the changing of loan application forms where you had to tick a box to say you wanted credit protection insurance, as opposed to one where you had to tick to say you did not.

If i received something like this, i must admit i would act. On one occasion when i received unsolicited credit card cheques, i simply wiped my arse on them and posted them back. I never got any more.

Thal

[pianistimo]

? hmm.  i'll skip the wiping and just mail it back.  but, what if it gets stolen in the mail?  then, someone signs it and uses it and voila -just what they wanted.  identity theft.  it ruins your credit score.  i'm going to cut the card up and just mail a letter explaining that neither of us requested an account.  and, according to us - we have no account to 'cancel.'

and, if the phone call is charged - as according to berrt (which made me worry) - i'll send them a bill with the letter.  btw, this is EXACTLy the kind of telephone charge that could be made on a regular phone bill if you don't request that exclusion of third party additions to your bill and make them bill you directly.

now, i have even convinced myself that conspiracy theories aren't really ONLY in the imagination.  i heard another woman on the radio complaining that on her credit score were cards that she was mailed but never activated.  do they get access to your private financial information this way?  who gives them the authority?  themselves?  the credit company?  are they in collusion?

[thalbergmad]

I would be amazed if they actually opened an account without your authority, but i have no idea of regulations in the US.

To open an Account in UK, some form of application is required, whether by internet or paper application. In addition, at least 2 forms of identifiation are required by Law. Withtout this, it would be impossible.

I would be inclined to check your credit file to see if they made a search.

Are you sure you have got your fact right here and have not missed something in the small print. Have you ever done any business with these people in the past, or any of their associates.

It all seems pretty far out to me.

Thal

[pianistimo]

we have not applied to capital one because the interest rates previously had been so outrageous.  we saw right through their recent fixed low interest rate last month - and keep throwing the stuff out.  but, i can't throw the recent one - because it looks like we have an account that we don't have.  they sent a REAL card with a number on it.  i will check the card again to see if there is a magnetic strip to it.  the front looks very real.

[berrt]

they sent a REAL card with a number on it.  i will check the card again to see if there is a magnetic strip to it.  the front looks very real.

It's not such a complicated art to make a genuine looking card, anyone can buy machines that do it - unlike dollar bills. Im with thal and think there is no more than mean power-selling behind it (and if only they sell a phone call).

B.

[ahinton]

It's not such a complicated art to make a genuine looking card, anyone can buy machines that do it - unlike dollar bills. Im with thal and think there is no more than mean power-selling behind it (and if only they sell a phone call).

B.

I'm not so sure - indeed, i'm not quite sure what's going on here. Dodgy emails purporting to come from all manner of organisations are as common as clouds in the sky, but getting an account with a card through the mail when none has been applied for is quite another matter. All that needs to be done is to call the number in the accompanying letter and make the necessary enquiries. If suspicious activity of any kind appears to be revealed as a consequence of such a call, then either you, Susan, or Capital One, can approach the police and, if the latter, Capital One will doubtless request that you retain all that you have received for use as evidence.

Good luck!

Best,

Alistair