Card used without permission: block, report and track
Treat suspected unauthorised card use as a card-security incident, even if the physical card is still with you. Use your issuer’s official blocking and reporting process, preserve the transaction record and ask how replacements affect subscriptions and valid repayments.
Identify the affected card and entries
Record the masked card identifier, merchant, amount, date and status of the suspect payment. Distinguish unauthorised card use from a recognised purchase with a delivery dispute. Use the issuer’s security process for the affected card; do not wait for proof of a particular cloning technique before reporting what you observed.
Protect the access that remains
Follow blocking, device and credential instructions from the issuer. Capitec’s published fraud guidance rejects requests for passwords or PINs and new transactions to stop fraud [1]. Inspect related card or wallet access through the bank’s supported tools and keep the bank’s contact information available while a replacement is arranged.
Rebuild ordinary payments safely
List recurring merchants billed to the affected card. Ask which need updated details after replacement and confirm essential payments individually. Track the dispute separately from recognised card debt. A new card does not itself answer which earlier transactions the issuer accepts or rejects.
Separate immediate protection from the investigation
Contact the issuer through an independently found official route and follow its card-security instructions. Keep the suspicious transaction details, but do not publish a full card number or access credentials to ask strangers for help. Record whether the affected item is pending or posted and tell the issuer what you actually observed. Ask how replacement access, recurring payments and the dispute will be handled, rather than assuming that blocking the card also cancels every subscription. Follow up using the report reference. Any refund or liability outcome depends on the actual investigation and applicable terms, not this general checklist.
A calculation you can check
Fictional statement: R800 recognised purchases and R250 disputed activity. Keep the R250 query separate and obtain the issuer’s actual payment instructions; do not infer the required payment by deleting an entry yourself.
Questions about this decision
Can unauthorised use happen with my card still present?
Report the observed entry regardless of physical possession. Let the issuer investigate how the payment occurred.
Should I keep using that card?
Follow the issuer’s blocking instructions and obtain a safe alternative for essential spending.
Is a merchant dispute the same as card fraud?
Tell the issuer whether you authorised the purchase and what is disputed. The factual description determines the appropriate query route.
What evidence should I save?
Save the transaction description, receipt if relevant, support reference and messages, without retaining security codes in shared files.
Will replacement fix every subscription?
Ask the issuer and each essential merchant which stored payment details must change; verify the next actual charge.
Should I stop paying recognised debt?
Ask the issuer about required payments during the dispute. Keep recognised and disputed entries distinct.
Can a caller operate the recovery?
Contact the issuer independently. Do not grant access or approve payments at an unsolicited caller’s request.
What is the final check after replacement?
Verify access, essential subscriptions and the status of each disputed entry using the issuer’s case references.