Montrose man's battle with bank lasts almost a year over nearly $15K in fraudulent charges

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Frank Price has been sparring with his credit company Capital One for alleged fraudulent charges after he said his identity was stolen in 2023.

Price said Capital One is trying to get him to pay the nearly $15,000 bill.

"It's just an absolute mess. An absolute total mess," Price said.

At 81 years old, living on a fixed income, Price said he watches his finances closely. He said he noticed something was wrong when his Capital One bill topped $5,000 in April 2023. Price said his Frost Bank account was also compromised but said they returned the money to him.

"I went over to my little computer thing to open it up to check how much I owed them," he said.

Price said his bill is generally under $1,000, and he pays it down immediately.

He said he contacted Capital One about the issue, and they helped him identify some of the fraudulent charges, showing thousands spent at big box retailers like Target.

Price said Capital One sent him a new card, but he quickly realized it was also compromised.

He tried to cancel the card through phone calls, but the charges continued to rack up and pointed to the thousands of dollars spent at retailers in the Huntsville area.

"His credit is ruined, and it just seems like there's nothing you can do," Price's neighbor, Cay Dickson, said.

Dickson has been helping Price, trying to fix the situation, but with no luck.

Price said the Deer Park Police Department found someone with his expired ID card last summer. He said he also filed a police report with Houston police but was told that because the charges were all made outside of Harris County, there wasn't much that could be done.

"It's been a nightmare," he said.

When ABC13 reached out to Capital One, a spokesperson said these cases can be more complicated than they appear at face value and said they would be researching the issue.

"I hope they will reverse the charges and clear his credit," Dickson said.

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