Consumer complaint received 2023-12-19
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NY
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
This issue stemmed from an XXXX credit card that I opened in XXXX for a single purchase, a cell phone, from XXXX. The account was setup as paperless. I paid off the purchase right away and destroyed the card. I never used the card again, I actually forgot about the card. The account end is XXXX. 

In XXXX some purchases were made on this account without my knowledge. I was not made aware of these because the account was paperless. Eventually, XXXX Synchrony Bank mailed me a past due bill. I called XXXX about the fraudulent charges, and was advised to dispute the charge with the credit card company. I contacted Synchrony to report the fraud and dispute the charge, and asked that they close the account asap. They mailed me a new card instead. It took multiple contacts to them to get some answers on this. I called Synchrony multiple times, in XX/XX/XXXX I was transferred to a XXXX in the XXXX department and she said the dispute was closed and denied back on XX/XX/XXXX. She said she can re-open the claim and it will take 60 days to hear back. 

From XXXX to present I have contacted the customer service lines at both XXXX and Synchrony, I have written to the CEO XXXX XXXX, I have engaged the XXXX and the XXXX Attorney General. The only thing that was resolved is they agreed to remove XXXX of the fraudulent charges ( about {$40.00} ) but not the second charge that was about {$70.00}. They disclosed that this purchase was made XX/XX/XXXX. They continue to tack on monthly late fees and interest, and with all their junk fees the balance is now almost {$400.00}. 

I have disputed the charges with the XXXX credit reporting agencies. As a result, I noticed that XXXX Synchrony retaliated by creating a new account ending in XXXX, with new transactions dated in XX/XX/XXXX that I did NOT authorize. 

Synchrony has violated multiple rights I have under FTC 's law- XXXX ) I did not get a monthly billing statement after a purchase was registered on the card. I later discovered this account was setup as paperless, and since I did not use it, I never was made aware of any fraudulent charges. It was months later that Synchrony sent a statement in the mail. If the issuer is charging you interest on your account balance, the issuer must send a statement for the billing period XXXX ) 16 months later this is still unresolved. The issuer " must resolve the dispute '' within 90 days. 

XXXX ) Synchrony has reported me delinquent on my credit report. I have now corrected the credit reporting to not say delinquent, but Synchrony has not corrected the balance on the account. 

XXXX ) Synchrony has not removed the finance charges and interest associated with the fraudulent charge. 

XXXX ) Synchrony is only allowed to charge me by federal law {$50.00} for a fraudulent charge. 

Synchrony has failed to investigate these charges and deems them as valid, at first saying it was because some XXXX purchases have been successfully made from my XXXX account to the address on file. I replied that is proof of absolutely nothing, only that the XXXX account is used... They then said they must be valid charges because they were made from the same IP address as other purchases made on this XXXX account. I replied that is no proof either that I used this card, because this is a shared laptop, so of course the IP is the same. The login for XXXX is saved on that laptop, anyone that opens the laptop has access to XXXX to buy things. 

Synchrony has failed to prove this charge is valid. I have pressed them to provide proof that is standard that other card companies use : XXXX ) Require physical possession of the card ( example : using the microchip at the cash register, obviously this will not happen with an online transaction though ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Require that someone accessing Amazon.com has to input a code that is emailed to ME or texted to ME to verify it is ME logging in. This never happened or I would have caught this... 
XXXX ) Require that someone purchasing something on XXXX has to input the XXXX digit XXXX code located on the back of the card, to prove the buyer has possession of the card. This never happened ... because I have destroyed that card years ago! 

I hope you can help me resolve this issue. Synchrony Bank has gone rogue in not only failing to acknowledge they have no security measures in place to ensure transactions made with a " virtual '' XXXX card are valid. Now it appears they have created a new account in my name, and transferred all costs to this new account ending in XXXX without any communication or approval from me. 

Can you step in and help me as a consumer?

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation