Capital One gets hit with massive fine

(WPRI) -- Capital One is being hit by the government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a $210 million dollar fine.

“This is just so refreshing to see that our new consumer financial protection agency is clamping down on a lot of these credit card abusers, something we have not seen in a long time, Chris Lefebvre, a consumer law attorney said.

Millions of credit card customers were allegedly tricked by Capital One agents and asked to purchase unnecessary add-on services, in order to use their credit cards. Some customers were even told that Capital One’s credit card protection services were free, which is far from the truth.

In a statement, Capital One said that they were aware of its’ agents’ practices last year.

"These marketing calls were inconsistent with the explicit instructions we provided to agents for how these products should be sold."

Capital One's deceptive practices has certainly surprised many, however some say it's not unique within the industry.

“One of the very profitable aspects of the credit card industry are all of these hidden add-ons and so called freebies which unfortunately cost consumers millions of dollars,” said Lefebvre.