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I live in the United States. One of my credit cards issued by a bank based in the US (namely, JPMorgan Chase Bank) was used fraudulently. I informed my bank, who Informed me they would close my credit card account, then give me a new credit card with a different account number.

What's the impact on my credit score, if any?

The fraud did not cause me to miss any payment on my credit card account. I detected the fraud within 2 days, and called my bank immediately.

Excerpts from the e-mail I received from the bank:

We closed your Chase credit card account ending in XXXX to prevent unauthorized transactions, as we recently discussed.

What you need to know about your replacement credit card:

  • You'll need to update the new account number if you have automatic bill pay set up for this credit card.

  • We'll notify Equifax, TransUnion and Experian that we closed your other account. Their records should be updated within 60 days.

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    Just so you know, nothing unusual is happening to you here. Credit card numbers get changed due to fraud every day. I have had it happen to me several times over the last few years. My credit report shows it as one continuous account. – Ben Miller - Remember Monica Nov 2 '17 at 2:08
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When they issue a new card in response to fraudulent charges they aren't closing your line of credit and opening a new one, the credit card number changes, but your account persists. There is no impact to your credit score, all else being equal.

Edit: That email wording doesn't sound like the typical fraud re-issue, it really makes it sound like they did in fact close your line of credit and then started a new one. It could have a negative impact on your score as it affects age of credit, but your history of good standing on the closed account will persist for ~10 years and your new account presumably has the same limit as your old one, so utilization percentage would stay the same. Presumably their reporting of the events to the credit bureaus is intended to ensure it is not perceived negatively, so I'd wager no impact to your score.

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  • Thanks. The e-mail I received from the bank was phrased as follows: "We closed your Chase credit card account ending in XXXX to prevent unauthorized transactions, as we recently discussed." Do you know why they say "closed your Chase credit card account" if they just change the credit card number? – Franck Dernoncourt Nov 2 '17 at 0:50
  • @FranckDernoncourt Despite the strong wording, I seriously doubt that it will have any impact at all on your credit report. They describe it as "closing the account and opening a new one," but your balance, your credit limit, your purchase history, your payment history, and everything else will transfer from old to new. See MonkeyZeus's answer on the duplicate question for a statement from Chase regarding how they handle this situation. I think the only reason that they describe it as "closing the account" is so that you understand that you need to set up all automated payments again. – Ben Miller - Remember Monica Nov 2 '17 at 1:14
  • I'm a Chase customer too, and sometime when I've gotten a new card number from Chase because of fraud, the "Cardmember Since" field has been updated, and sometimes not. My credit score has never noticeably changed, though. – RonJohn Nov 2 '17 at 8:44
  • @RonJohn Thanks for the feedback. Did you look at your credit report to see whether it counted as 1 account closure + 1 account creation? – Franck Dernoncourt Nov 2 '17 at 21:01
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    @RonJohn I've just called Chase (800-772-9261), they say they should be no impact on the credit score, and that the account is just being updated. I'll see what actually happens, and in the near future I'll order my credit report (can be done three times per year for free: ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/get-my-free-credit-report), in addition to mentoring my credit score weekly through creditkarma.com. – Franck Dernoncourt Nov 2 '17 at 21:17

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