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All About Fraud Protection

Published Date
Author Ben Breitbart

We monitor your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we do everything we can to keep your credit card safe from fraud.

We’ve got your back and if you’re a victim of fraud, we’ll work hard to help make it right. We provide Zero Liability protection which means that if your credit card is used without your authorization, you won’t be liable for those charges, provided certain conditions are met. See the Mastercard® Zero Liability terms for more details.

Here’s what we offer to help you keep your account safe:

  • Security alerts – we offer a suite of tools that help you stay on top of what’s happening with your account. For instance, two-way fraud alerts flag potentially suspicious activity on your card and ask you to review and confirm that you recognize the transactions involved.
  • Credit Keeper™ – you can keep an eye on your TransUnion® credit score for free with Credit Keeper – any significant, unexpected changes to your score could indicate fraudulent activity.

There are plenty of ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud. See below for details.

  • Keep your personal information private.
  • Never share your PIN with anyone.
  • Keep your credit card number private – don’t read it out loud in a public place and don’t lend your card to anyone.
  • Create a strong password that’s difficult to guess and don’t use it for other accounts.
  • Avoid sharing identifying personal information on social media, including your date of birth, address and phone number.
  • Keep an eye on your mailbox and empty it frequently. If you go on vacation, have a friend collect your mail or request that it be held at the post office.
  • Before discarding sensitive mail such as your bank or credit card statements, shred them first. Better yet, sign up for paperless statements for your Capital One account – your statements will be delivered securely to your online banking account each month.
  • Review your credit report every year.

If a fraudster were to steal your identity to open a credit account without your knowledge, it should appear on your credit report. Refer to the Credit Report FAQs for information about requesting a credit report from the major credit bureaus.

Beware of phishing scams including phone calls, text messages and emails. If you’re not sure how to detect a phishing scam, it’s important to remember that a legitimate organization will always reach out to you from a credible email address. In addition, they would never:

  • Ask you for your PIN
  • Require you to provide your Social Insurance Number when it’s not absolutely necessary
  • Make grammatical errors in written communications to you
  • Use fear tactics to get money or gifts from you

Sign up for Capital One online banking. You can set up customized account alerts that notify you when:

  • Transactions are made outside of Canada
  • Transactions are made over a limit you’ve determined
  • Your available credit dips below a limit you’ve determined

Sign up for Online Banking