Consumer complaint received 2021-03-07
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
In the month of XX/XX/XXXX, a debit/bank account was opened with USAA followed by an unsecured loan that was taken out using my information electronically. I was not made aware of this action until XX/XX/XXXX when I reviewed my credit report. Immediately I contacted USAA, in order to dispute this action. USAA did not notify me of the account via email. At the time of the loan being taken out, address information was not correct. The address on file with USAA was listed as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD XXXX ( where I lived up until XX/XX/XXXX ), however, my address at the time was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD XXXX ( where I lived from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ). I updated address information with the post office immediately after moving. After the incident, I notified the major credit bureaus, in order to place fraud alerts and credit freezes on my report, as well as contacted the FTC to report the identity theft. Following this, I contacted the police department to file a police report of the incident in XX/XX/XXXX. I have made several attempts at disputing this account with USAA. They have advised me that the account and the loan was not done fraudulently. A detective working on the identity theft investigation has also determined that the activity is fraudulent and was committed by spouse. The investigation concluded on XX/XX/XXXX and Detective XXXX XXXX with the XXXX XXXX PoIice department delivered the results to me. I have since separated from my spouse and I legally divorced due to this action, as I was unaware that he committed this. The martial settlement agreement declared by the court leaves my spouse responsible for this debt. This account and loan was opened up without my knowledge or consent and I am struggling with USAA on having is resolved. USAA has refused to give me any actions on how this can be removed, despite my submission of a police report and identity theft report. I have taken all necessary steps and recommended actions, but I feel that this is unfair for USAA to continue to hold me responsible for a fraudulent debt. I have tried to contact USAA multiple times and have spoken to different departments regarding this issue. 

I previously submitted a complaint in XXXX and was contacted by a representative by the name of XXXX XXXX ( member advocacy ) and he left a voicemail with his extension. I was at work and called him back right after and I have left him several voicemails with appropriate times to reach me. I continued to call and leave voicemails daily for about 2 weeks. I called USAA and spoke to a representative who stated that he would have Mr. XXXX reach out to me, but this was never done. I have a copy of the call logs and voicemails. Mr. XXXX sent an email stating he could not get in contact with me, but I called back several times and only received his voicemail. The dispute was closed without any resolution and I am back at square 1. It is difficult and time consuming to get ahold of someone and I have spend countless hours on the phone. I have also written and mailed letters to USAA and the 3 major reporting credit agencies. The loan is currently being reported as a charge off and is negatively affecting my credit.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation