Consumer complaint received 2022-11-17
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, while staying at the XXXX XXXX, I used my credit card at the pool bar. My mother got sick while at the pool that afternoon and in the panic I left my credit card behind. I left XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I didn't remember that I'd left my credit card behind until a few weeks later, very close to XXXX, when I saw that a total of {$5200.00} had been withdrawn from my account over XXXX transactions on a single day, XX/XX/XXXX. I don't normally use my credit card when I'm not traveling, and USAA did not flag this unusual behavior on my account. 

I filed my first fraud claim on this matter in late XX/XX/XXXX. At that time, I did not file a police report because I have never needed to do that for other fraud claims. USAA took XXXX  months to respond to this claim and the denied that it was fraud because the person who stole my credit card according to USAA accessed my account at the ATM using my PIN without failure. USAA concluded for that reason only that this crime is not fraud. 

The agents I spoke with at USAA all asked me how this thief was able to get my PIN but I couldnt answer that question because prior to this, I knew nothing about how credit card fraud happens. So I spent several months doing research and talking with experts about it. During this time, the XXXX police investigated my case. 

The rest of this letter includes the findings of the police investigation and what I found in my research. 

Im here to insist that this is indeed fraud in fact, USAA failed to protect my personal information and also failed to implement appropriate fraud detection mechanisms such that I was unwittingly vulnerable to fraud and had been for the XXXX years that Ive been a USAA member. 
Furthermore, USAA didn't bother to review video footage, although it took them 3 months to reach a conclusion on my case. By the time I learned they had denied my claim and opened an investigation with XXXX Police, several of the banks had purged their video, so there were only a few banks that could offer the police a video to help identify the thief. 

- The guy caught on camera spent over XXXX minutes at the ATM conducting a transaction. If he was successful using my PIN, he would not have needed XXXX minutes. 

- The USAA agent admitted it wasnt fraud while on the phone with me. They have they informed me at the start of the call that this was a recorded conversation. Please refer to that previously recorded conversations on this matter because I specifically said to the USAA agent that if this isnt fraud, then I must be attempting to defraud USAA. The agent replied by saying Well we dont think YOU committed fraud. Youll find that in a recorded discussion during the first week of XXXX, XXXX. 

- I've attached the findings from XXXX police in which they conclude that this was indeed fraud. I had to close the case in order to get the police report without redaction. I felt that too much time has passed at this point and they have no leads on who this person is- meanwhile I have over {$5000.00} in credit card debt + fees and interest building up. I need resolution.

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