Kwiemer Asked May 24, 2024
Visa won't close mom's credit card. What can I do?
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I started looking through dad's Visa statement. There was an amount taken out every month, in different amounts between $200- 650. All it said was automatic phone payment. At first I thought it was for a phone bill, it's not. Mom died 4/9 and on 4/14 there was another automatic phone payment.
My sister-in-law disconnected mom's phone so I can not retrieve a confirmation code since all Visa had was mom's phone as the contact.
I've sent them the POA and death certificate.
I don't know what else I can do, someone is clearly using this card but they won't close it.
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You say Dads statement. Is Dad alive? Was Mom an authorized user? If Dad is primary, then u cannot cancel the card. You have to prove Dads death. This maybe your problem.
Because if so you are in luck. Charges can't be paid by dead people and you return their bills with death certificate saying DECEASED.
You need to notify Experian, Equifax and Transunion of your mother's death so that no credit can be opened in her name.
BarbBrooklyn loves Bogleheads Forum for advice like this. I think that is boglehead.com, but not sure.
I'd call the charge card and ask for details on this company making automatic withdrawal on deceased person's account, but problem here is IF your Dad also on this card. You may need to make the call, have Dad at the phone, and get them to cancel this card completely.
The site below has some suggestions, too and there is much online about how to proceed. I think the worst of it is you may have two people listed on this card and one living. If it is only Mom on it it is simple enough to cancel with her death certificate. POA doesn't work for the dead, only executor or administrator works then. But POA if you have it for Dad can cancel this card if you get him and you on the phone with them, and report wife deceased. They will tell you how to go about cancelling the credit card which is what I would do.
If you cannot cancel this card, or they refuse to, you need to ask them how to cancel the credit card of your dead mother. They have to discuss this with you.
Bankrate
https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/how...
How To Cancel Credit Cards After A Death | Bankrate
If the deceased used their credit card to make recurring payments on any other accounts, such as utility bills or other subscriptions, you will need to cancel those. Canceling the credit card is not enough to stop these payments from being processed. Check any statements your loved one left behind for … See more
You can also ask them for the paperwork on how to file for credit card fraud on this account. You are going to have to ask now to speak with supervisor and say you are getting refusals on canceling credit card. Ask them the procedure for their card. Let them know you are in communication with an AgingCare Forum and you are going to start to give out details about their particular Visa Card and why no one should use it on that Forum.
I guess I just have to wait until they get the POA for dad? And then dispute the charges.
Ask the supervisor to tell you exactly what your father needs to do to cancel this credit card.
Let them know this charge is coming on monthly and that this is nothing that your father uses. If they cannot get rid of this monthly automatic charge you will have to cancel the credit card automatically.
If this credit card is issued by a bank, say Citibank or some such you may need to take Dad in for an appointment with a bank officer and go from there.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
In general the online stuff is quite overwhelming. Hope you find something to help. If you do please let us know.
This will probably take awhile to work out.
Thank you for the information
If you have online access to the card, log in and look for those charges. There should be a clickable link on the charge so you can dispute it.
I simply do not understand how accounts cannot be closed when the death certificate is provided. Be polite but assertive and ask for the supervisor/manager.
I would not close the card until all those charges that shouldn't have been made are credited back to the card.
First stop in any of this is always an attorney office.
You need to know what letters testamentary you have to get to act now in Mom's behalf because the POA died with her. You can't use it for anything.
If this card is in Dad's and her name then with her death certificate to certify she is gone your father can CANCEL THIS CARD in the office of B of A with an appointment with bank officer. I would take that 4 hour trip. Make it a fun outing in which you chat, eat good food and etc.
It is horribly frustrating. I know. I once was on the phone in different areas of our country and overseas with Spectrum Phone company from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and thought I would go mad with it.
I was hoping I didn't have to drive to B of A , 4 hr drive both ways. I'm hoping with mom's death certificate and dad's POA in the mail they will allow me to cancel this. It has to be canceled because we know mom isn't using it anymore and dad doesn't get out.
Im going to call again next week and see if I can cancel this
Did you just mail the Executor paperwork and death certificate? Or did you talk to a specific department before you sent it off? If you didn't do this, you should have. If you did, then you will just need to wait for the process to work.
Last resort: You can report it as fraud and then they will shut down the account that second. That's what CapitolOne does to me every time there's a mystery charge. Shut down immediately. Usually they will then send out a new card in the mail right away. You can ask for it to be expedited. They might send it to where your Dad lives, so make sure to clarify where the physical card should go.
Report this as fraud.
I would also freeze all three credit bureaus. You can always temporarily unfreeze them if you need access to them.
If someone is using this card and they decide to take a loan out in your mom’s name with one of these overnight fly by night ‘online overnight’ loan companies, they won’t verify anything.
How do I know this? It happened to me. Someone hacked my gmail account, took out a loan out from one of these lenders and it showed up on my credit report.
I had to file a police report, contact all three credit bureaus and freeze them. It took a while before I was able to resolve the issue.
The detective that handled my case told me that he had a room full of police officers handling fraudulent cases all day long.
Criminals make fraud into a full time career.
All I can do now is hold my breath and pray
The lawyer just called me back. All I can do is wait until they get the POA, DC. Call them back, try again to cancel it and fight any new changes.
Word of advice... NEVER disconnect your deceased loved ones phone until you get everything straightened out.
There is no logical reason for their behavior. You had a death certificate, for crying out loud!
It’s a shame that you had to deal with this nonsense shortly after your dad died.
A friend of mine thinks it could be online shopping. By the way, my mom didn't have internet.
It says... automated phone payment, then a 4 number code, then the amount.
All code numbers are different so are the amounts
I would call my state or federal representative. Maybe the tv station. Maybe one of those places can put some pressure on them.
Sheesh. I’m sorry this is happening to you!
Not a bad idea to call a television station. I would try anything at this point!
I would call the bank and tell them the card was stolen.
I gave visa my phone number but visa said it wouldn't work
OMG does it ever end?
This is clearly fraud, but unless I can prove that a deceased woman didn't agree that they could use the card I have no case.
Time, that's it. I have to wait until visa gets the POA and death certificate and hope they let me cancel the card
I never would have guessed this would happen. I thought all I would have to do is find where the finances went. Did I think my brother would keep scamming my parents.. no, because I would never do it!
I would make a list of charges that are not recognized by Dad. I would ask the credit card people where these charges are originating from.
Now you have POA for Dad you maybe able to get around all this. But if Mom was primary, Dads POA means nothing. Even though an Executor request has been made in a Will, your not executor until Probate gives u a short certificate saying you can handle a persons estate.
Now you have Dads POA and if he is primary on the card you call together. Making the person aware that you are on a Captel phone so Dads response time will be slow because there is a 3rd party involved. There really should be no problem in freezing the acct and fraudulant charges should be a good reason. You may need to make a complaint to the fraud department. So I would go that way first. Explain that there are unexplained charges on the card. That onebof these charges were made after Moms death and after her phone was shut off. If you get nowhere with the person answering your call, ask the person for a supervisor.
The important thing is to freeze that acct. Then the credit card company needs to tell you how this transaction was done and who it went to. Did Mom have a caregiver that would have access to her phone and card? These charges, while under investigation, cannot be charged financial charges. I think the Credit Card Company has 30 days to reseach your claim. The FTC (Federal Trade Comission) is in charge of Credit Card Companies. So contact them if you get nowhere with the CC company.
I came back to say that I had a thought. This maybe an automatic payment of some kind. Meaning you would have to call the company doing it to prove Mom is now deceased for it to stop. By freezing the acct, you may hear from this company and then u tell them Mom is deceased and the acct has been closed. The different amounts baffle me.
Please return to tell us what happened. It will help us in dealing with our parents and even ourselves.
I so wish I was there. When I worked I loved the research.
This situation is baffling to me as well. It certainly is a mystery.
I would like to know how the OP settles this situation.
I wonder how many others have gone through similar experiences.
He is the one OP is acting for.
So he is getting the charge now. And they won't cancel the card which is now his responsibility even tho he is sinking into dementia.
When new card arrives, keep it stashed somewhere safe.
Report the card stolen. Then when the new one arrives, call Visa and set up a password on it. If a card has a password it cannot be used without it's password.
Someone else said this - and this was what we found to be significant after my son died. Those charges will keep adding up until they are canceled. We had such a difficult time with his internet provide Frontier (they kept saying they were sending forms and that they needed a death certificate along with the forms and we were NOT receiving anything from them) we finally found their app on his phone and used the app the cancel the service.
The bank said we had to file a police report in order for them to stop future withdrawals. The bank also returned the last 6 (?) months of withdrawals but that was all that was required of them.
I let the company know, formally, that person who owned the card was deceased as of this date.
i let them know that all assets would be reallocated via a will and they would know longer be paid.
i closed the account from where the automatic payment was drawn so no more money went to the card.
In about one month, I got a closing statement.
Good luck!
Are you dealing with BOA? if so, I posted my opinion of them below in the thread, but long story short, BOA is extremely difficult and it can feel downright impossible to deal with them. They are the worst ever; just don't be nice but be a bulldog.
A few things.
I'd do whatever is required and possible for you to freeze and/or close that account.
I wouldn't wait to dispute the charged.
You stated your parents didn't do anything online. My mom was the same, but with my then POA, which I only needed ethically for this, I set up the online account for mom myself, but I created a email account for mom that I had access and control to, and then I used that email to setup the online access to her BOA and other accounts. I then had control to see activity, etc. on the account. The only thing we couldn't do online was close the crappy BOA account. Whatever you do, do not put your name on the account. Your POA with Dad is good enough for everything else.
I never get paper stmts, but I know that online stmts will show vendors phone numbers if you drill down on each charge. I think you'll need to find that info to see who is charging on the account. Then contact them, if they're some legit vendor- like a subscription service - to get address info to send then the death certificate or just stop that service. You may be able to get a charge back from them if you explain the situation. But BOA will not help you there, I'm afraid. However, if it's not a vendor and someone just using the card at various stores, etc. then that is definitely fraud, and you'll have to deal with BOA. I suggest dealing with BOA in writing and documenting all your efforts with them.
I second the idea of reporting the card stolen, but verify the address on the account to where the new card will be sent. Hopefully, it's just the one address.
Maybe if reported stolen, they'll allow you to change the PIN code.
Also, when you setup the online access, fill out all the available security questions THEN call to change the code by answering the security questions you set up.
Since the codes are sent to your mom's old phone, I'm wondering if you can add a phone number to the account via online, then request the code be sent to either that new number (yours) or both. Might be worth a try.
Good luck!
Had to add that.
What a nightmare.