Consumer complaint received 2023-07-26
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: IL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
At XXXX on XXXX XX/XX/2023, I received what appeared to be a fraud alert from Navy Federal Credit Union ( NFCU ). I have attached the screenshot of the text message I received. The text was fraud alert asking if I had attempted to transfer {$100.00}, {$500.00}, and {$200.00} through XXXX and to reply " yes '' if I authorized the charge and " no '' if I did not. I replied " no '' as I don't utilize XXXX and did not authorize those transactions. I received a reply that a representative would be giving me a call shortly. I looked up the phone number for NFCU fraud department ( XXXX ). I started to call the NFCU fraud department at XXXX but a customer had walked in where I worked. I assisted the customer at my work and started to call them again when I noticed that I was receiving a phone call from them ( see attached call log ). I received the phone call from a XXXX American gentleman who introduced himself as a NFCU representative from the fraud department. Note that they called me from the NFCU phone number ( call log attached ). The gentleman asked to speak with me and I stated that he was talking to me. He stated that there were some unusual transaction on my account and glad that he was able to catch those from me. He told me that he needed to send me a verification code and for me to read it off to him. I received the NFCU verification code via my XXXX e-mail address and read it off to him. He told me that he was going to place me on a brief hold while he looks at my account to see what was compromised. I was placed on hold with the waiting music. We became disconnected around XXXX. I was getting ready to call the fraud department back but the representative from NFCU called me right back at XXXX. He apologized for getting disconnected and stated he was still looking into my account. He asked me if I would like to remove the XXXX capability from my bank account. I replied that I did because I do not utilize XXXX and that is what compromised my account. He said he would gladly do that for me and sent me another verification code and I read it off to him. He then placed me on a brief hold while he takes care of that. He then came back off hold and told me that he had to reset my account because it was compromised and sent me another verification code. We became disconnected at XXXX. The NFCU representative called me back at XXXX and I read off the verification that I received and he placed me on hold again. He came back off hold and told me that he was still working on resetting my account and placed me on hold again. We became disconnected at XXXX. I started to call back the NFCU fraud department at XXXX and I noticed that the fraud department was calling me back at XXXX so I switched over to answer the phone call. He apologized for the disconnect again and told me that he was finishing resetting my account. He placed me on hold again and then came back on the line. We became disconnected again at XXXX. I waited about 5 minutes to see if they would call me back. I called the NFCU phone number at XXXX and that is when I found out that I had never spoke with a NFCU representative. It was a scammer that had that taken over my account, took out a {$8500.00} loan, set up ( 3 ) member-to-member transfers, had the loan deposited into my checking account, and transferred all of the loan money and what was in my checking account. NFCU froze me account and marked the loan as fraud and told me to call back the next day to start the fraud claims because the transactions need to post. I called NFCU the following day on Friday XXXX XX/XX/2023 at XXXX CST. The lady who answered the phone stated that I need to talk to the security department and they didn't get in until XXXX EST. I called NFCU back at XXXX to speak with the Security department at NFCU. A male representative from the Security department answered and started inferring that I should have known better and noticed that this was a scam. I felt really embarrassed by his comments and felt that it wasn't normal for a bank to be victim shaming. I also felt that if NFCU Security was better I wouldn't be in this position. Someone was able to take out a {$8500.00} loan without showing identification or providing any signatures ( this is what I learned from the fraud department lady the night before on XXXX XX/XX/2023 when I talked with her from XXXX. He walked me through how to install the latest security update on my apple i-phone. He also told me that the scammer had my full SSN and date of birth so I would need to take identity theft actions. He sent me an e-message with how to move forward with precautions with identity theft ( report to FTC, freeze/lock credit with all ( 3 ) credit bureaus, initial fraud alert with all ( 3 ) credit bureaus, etc. He then transferred me to the NFCU fraud department. The fraud department closed my savings and checking that the scammer stole all my money from and opened a new account. They told me that I could submit an affidavit for the fraudulent loan and either mail it in or turn it into a local branch and they can scan and upload it. They told me to call back the next day as the transactions from the transfer of money out of my checking and savings had not posted yet. I inquired if the the transactions show posted because I was able to login with new credentials to my new account and saw that the transfer transactions have posted. They placed me a hold to talk to my manager and stated that I would just have to call back tomorrow. I inquired if the transactions haven't posted why can't they just stop the transactions and they told me that they can't do that because the funds have already left the account and the system just needs to catch up. I inquired about provisional funding as I read that it may be possible to get provisional funding on the affidavit. They stated they can not give me provisional funding but gave me a {$50.00} credit to my new account to help out. I was on the phone for 1 hour and 46 minutes with NFCU. On XXXX XX/XX/2023 I turned in the affidavit for the loan into the NFCU XXXX, IL branch and the lady scanned and uploaded the affidavit into their system and printed me a new debit card for my new checking account. Also, on XXXX XX/XX/2023 I made a FTC report and was given a task checklist to work on for identity theft. On XXXX XX/XX/2023, I froze/locked all credit from all ( 3 ) credit bureaus and did an initial fraud alert for all ( 3 ) credit bureaus that will be good for 1 year. On the following day, XXXX XX/XX/2023 I called NFCU at XXXX CST and started the fraud claim for my checking and savings account. The lady I spoke with told me that she submitted the fraud claim and that it would take 6 months to complete and investigation and once the investigation was complete then I would receive a response on the claim. On XXXX XX/XX/2023, I submitted the FTC dispute letters to NFCU via their e-message portal. I sent one FTC dispute letter for the fraudulent loan and one FTC dispute letter along with the FTC Notice to Furnishers for both submissions. I called NFCU at XXXX on XXXX XX/XX/2023 to get an update on the fraud claims for the fraudulent loan and the fraud claim for the checking/saving accounts. The NFCU female representative stated that the claims have been submitted and it will take 6 months to go through the investigation and the claim completed. Once the claim is completed in 6 months I will received a letter with the finding. I inquired if I had additional evidence that I could provide such as the text message from the scammer, police report, etc. how I would be able to get that over to them so that I can assist with the claim to go through. She instructed me to utilize the e-message system but it will still take 6 months. She also stated that within the next month I will need to start making payments on the fraudulent loan. I inquired why I had to pay for a loan that I didn't take out that was already marked as fraud. She replied that if I didn't make the payments on the fraudulent loan during this time they will report me to the credit bureaus and my credit will be ruined. She did state that if the claim comes back after it is completed they will pay me back everything I paid towards the loan. I asked her if it will truly take 6 months to complete the claims and investigation and she said yes. I asked if they are federally insured ( FDIC ) why I had to take the loss as a victim of fraud and not the bank take the loss. The female representative said that I have to be able to prove my innocence before I can receive any money back and that they can not gurantee that I receive all of my money back that I lost. Today, XXXX XX/XX/2023. I submitted additional evidence ( the text message that was a scam posed as a NFCU fraud alert that contained the phone number of the scammer ) for the claim and called NFCU to receive an update at XXXXCST. I inquired if I could receive an update on my fraud claims and the gentlemen stated that they are getting worked. I inquired how do I know they are actually working on my claim as I have been working tirelessly to provide all evidence I can for them and work through identity theft and trying to figure out what to do financially as all my money has been stolen from me. The gentlemen on the phone stated that if I sent the message its getting worked and I told him that this wasn't good enough and I needed an answer. I have ( 3 ) kids and I have bills to pay and mouths to feed and I have no money because that person stole everything. They told me that the fraud claims are a process and I just have to wait. I inquired if there was anything else I can do and they told me to just wait but they would mark my fraud claims as urgent so that maybe I will get it rectified before 6 months. After the phone call with NFCU I called the phone number that I received the scam text from off of my government cell phone and the same XXXX American male answered the phone. I had my government phone on mute and didn't interact because I don't want to ruin the investigation. Today I am filing this report, contacting the FBI fraud hotline, my security manager for my Command ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) is reaching out to the NCIS fraud department, going to my local police department to complete my police report and start researching for a lawyer. I have opened a separate bank account because I no longer trust NFCU with anymore money. I have been victim shamed, told to wait 6 months, they denied provisional funding, and told me I have to prove my innocence when I'm already a victim. To be treated by my bank in this manner has been extremely stressful and has caused a lot of trauma to my family. I don't know how we are supposed to survive with no money until pay day ( in 2 weeks ), but I know that NFCU isn't willing to work with me.

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