I’m visiting Macedonia. I changed the email address on my Capital One account (migrating off Gmail) and they froze all 4 of my cards. To unfreeze them, I had to provide my drivers license, social security card, and proof of residence in the USA & then wait two weeks. There was no process for accelerating the timetable.
Did you notify Capital One you were in Macedonia at the time? Every time I’ve been abroad, I had to notify any card issuers first, just to make sure the charges weren’t flagged.
Otherwise, this level of fraud detection and response should be considered normal (and good).
I did not notify them, but they can clearly see I’ve been using the cards for the last two months. And I’ve called my card companies in the past to notify them of upcoming travel, and they all told me it was unnecessary with the new chips. If I had changed my email using my laptop & VPN connection to the USA, maybe I wouldn’t have had a problem, but I used the mobile app.
I didn’t mind the cards getting frozen. It could have been fraud for all they knew. What I did not appreciate was the fact that it took two weeks & multiple calls to my credit union to resolve proof of address. I was lucky that I had my social security and with me, and that I had a backup credit card from a different bank, otherwise it’s don’t k is what I would have done.
Capital One froze the cards. I don't think gmail has the ability to freeze someone's cards. Has nothing to do with gmail at all, just the change of email address in Capital One.
#expatlife