What To Do If Your Capital One Account Has Been Hacked

We always want to be reassured that our online financial accounts are safe from hackers. Unfortunately, bank data breaches have become more commonplace as cybercriminals continue to find ways to circumvent some of the tightest cybersecurity policies.

In fact, in 2019, a former Amazon engineer managed to illegally access over 100 million Capital One customers' accounts and credit applications. The intrusion allowed the hacker access to 140,000 Social Security numbers, 1 million Canadian Social Security numbers, and 80,000 bank account numbers. Never mind all the account holders' personal information including credit scores, limits, and balances that were uncovered in the breach.

Today's hackers have an arsenal of tools available to them through a network of software forums and message boards. Many are even publicly for sale that anyone can purchase.

So what do you do when you've discovered your own Capital One account has been hacked? This guide will take you step-by-step on how to recover your account and prevent future intrusions. While this process may be cumbersome, DoNotPay can assist you with recovering your account in just a few easy steps.

How to Tell If You’ve Had a Capital One Account Hack

There are several telltale signs that your Capital One account has been compromised.

• There are small, unexplained payments or withdrawals.

Online financial hackers test the waters by posting very small charges and withdrawals to verify they have access to your account.

• You receive unexpected notifications of changes to your user name, password, and personal details. If you receive text notifications that your account details have changed, this is the intruder attempting to change the contact information to access the account.
• A bank agent contacts you and asks for your log-in information. Not only do criminals work online to access your account, they sometimes phone you and falsely identify themselves as agents of your bank and request your login credentials. Note that legitimate bank representatives will NEVER ask for your password and other private data.
• There are larger transactions in your account history that don't belong to you. This usually happens if you didn't catch the smaller payments and withdrawals. Once the perpetrator realizes they have access to your account, they get more daring and steal larger amounts.
• The account was closed without prior notice. This typically happens to accounts you may not monitor on a frequent basis. Suddenly, you receive notice from the bank that the account has been empty for some time and is being closed. However, you were not the one that emptied it.

What to Do if Your Capital One Account Has Been Hacked

In the worst-case scenario that your Capital One account has been breached, you should take the following actions immediately:

1. Prevent further intrusions by switching your debit/credit card to "off" mode online or in the mobile app.
2. Sign in to your Capital One account and change the password.
3. Notify Capital One's Fraud Protection department at 1-800-427-9428 for credit card fraud and 1-800-655-2265 for bank account fraud. You may also notify Capital One online, but if you suspect someone is using your card, contact customer service by phone immediately, so they can cancel the card.
4. Capital One representatives will cancel the compromised debit or credit cards and assist you in filing a claim for lost funds if they were stolen from your bank account.
5. Check your credit reports with each bureau, since the perpetrators can open new accounts with your information. Place a fraud alert on your credit files wherever possible.

What to Do if Your Capital One Username or Password Has Been Changed

If a cybercriminal has gained access to your account, they may have already changed your user ID and password. Here are the steps you can take to regain access to your accounts.

• Access the Capital One log-in screen and select the option for "Forgot Username or Password?" See if you can retrieve access by changing this information. If your phone number is still correct, you will be able to access your account through 2FA security with a verification text sent to your phone.
• If you still cannot access your account, contact Capital One's customer service to inform them of the issue. They will also cancel your breached credit or debit cards and assist you with your account access.
• When you redo your online banking credentials, make sure to use completely different log-in, passwords, and PINs from your old ones to prevent further breaches.

How DoNotPay Can Help If Your Capital One Account is Hacked

The above processes are effective in helping you to recover your Capital One account but are also quite time-consuming and tedious. This is especially the case if you have to be placed on a lengthy phone hold with customer service.

However, DoNotPay has a more efficient way to help you recover your hacked Capital One account with the following steps:

1. Open the Recover Hacked Account product on DoNotPay and tell us the name of the company or platform of your hacked account.
2. Enter the information associated with your account, such as your username.
3. Tell us whether you have paid for the account and would like a refund.
4. And that’s it! We will send a demand letter on your behalf with a two-week deadline for the company’s representatives to help you recover your account.

DoNotPay will send the demand letter to Capital One on your behalf with a two-week deadline for their representatives to assist you to recover your account.

DoNotPay Can Help With Other Compromised Accounts

In addition to assisting with Capital One account intrusions, DoNotPay can help you with other company accounts.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Resolving issues with hacked accounts is just one of the many problems DoNotPay can help you with. Below are just a few of the many ways DoNotPay can simplify your life.

• Appeal a banned account
• Copyright protection issues
• Appeal parking tickets in any city
• Stop spam texts from email addresses
• Reduce your property taxes
• And many more

DoNotPay simplifies many other everyday administrative tasks. We're here to help you cut through the red tape with our step-by-step guides and innovative solutions!