Consumer complaint received 2023-11-07
Company: MOHELA
State: MD
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
My servicer is MOHELA. I have provided the details below, but in summary, I have evidence demonstrating that an agent of MOHELA obtained my debit card information under false pretenses, and ultimately charged a total of {$750.00}. MOHELA is aware of this and is working with me to identify the employee, and has granted me a forbearance through XX/XX/2023. However, interest will still accrue during this time unless I again provide MOHELA sensitive financial information something which they have already proven they can not reliably safeguard. On or about XX/XX/2023, I added my XXXX XXXX XXXX  checking account information to my MOHELA account so that I could make automatic monthly payments. My balance due on XX/XX/2023 was {$1300.00}. On or about XX/XX/2023, my IDR application was approved, reducing my monthly payment from {$1300.00} to {$430.00}. On or about XX/XX/2023, I received a notification from MOHELA informing me that that XXXX XXXX XXXX could not locate a bank account associated with the information that I provided, and that I still owed the {$1300.00} that was due on XX/XX/2023. Admittedly, I did not see this notification until XX/XX/2023, when I checked my MOHELA account to ensure that my payment scheduled for XX/XX/2023, had been adjusted to reflect my new IDR payment. Upon realizing that I had apparently made a mistake, I immediately added my bank account information again, and scheduled a {$1300.00} payment for that day ( in addition to the {$430.00} payment already scheduled for XX/XX/2023 ). These XXXX payments, totaling {$1800.00}, would have satisfied my entire outstanding balance owed to MOHELA for XXXX and XX/XX/2023. On the morning of XX/XX/2023, I became concerned that I corrected my auto debit information too late for the payment scheduled on XX/XX/2023, to successfully process. I was especially concerned given that my XXXX payment was already overdue, and the notification I received from MOHELA on XX/XX/2023, advised that I could face late penalties. On XX/XX/2023, at approximately XXXX EST, I called MOHELA 's customer service number at ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX with the goal of speaking to a MOHELA Agent about whether my updated auto debit information had processed, and if not, to see whether there was another way I could ensure that I satisfied my {$1800.00} obligation. An automatic recording advised me that the wait time was XXXX minutes and invited me to add myself to a call back list. At approximately XXXX XXXX, I added myself to that list and hung up. At approximately XXXX EST I received a call back from MOHELA 's number, ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX. The woman on the other end of the phone advised that she was calling me back from MOHELA. She asked me to verify my full social security number and DOB ( which I provided like an XXXX ). The woman further advised that, because she was a " trainee '', her " mentor '' would be assisting her with the call ( these may not have been her exact words, but she said something to the effect of these words, which led me to believe that her " mentor '' was listening in, or at least monitoring this phone call in some way ). ** Note : I unfortunately do not remember this woman 's name, however MOHELA has already pulled the recording from this call and are working to identify her. *** I explained my situation to this woman, and she advised me that she could cancel my two pending payments, and that I could instead make the {$1800.00} payment on my debit card. This caught me off guard, because my MOHELA user account does not include the option to add a debit account. I asked her about this, and she said something to the effect of " we are in the process of adding this feature for users, but you can give me the information and I can add it on my end. '' I recall specifically confirming whether she could cancel the separate {$430.00} payment, since it had long been scheduled to withdraw from my account on XX/XX/2023, and she confirmed that she could. Admittedly I thought this was all a little odd, but at that point I had no reason to believe that this woman was anything other than a MOHELA employee. Additionally, because of her earlier statements about being a trainee, I thought her mentor was on the call, and figured that whomever it was would correct her if she was not providing accurate information. She even sent me confirmation at XXXX XXXX, via a general MOHELA email account, that my scheduled {$1300.00} payment had been canceled. Again, having no reason to believe that this woman was anything other than a MOHELA employee being monitored by a supervisor, and acutely aware of the {$1800.00} XXXX owed to MOHELA to satisfy my XXXX and XX/XX/2023 balances, I provided her my debit card information. All of it. Like a XXXX. At XXXX EST, I received another email from a general MOHELA account confirming my payment of {$1800.00} and providing a confirmation number of XXXX ( please note that MOHELA 's system is set to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. When wrapping up the call, the woman asked if I would like additional information on IDR or public service loan forgiveness plan and I said yes. She emailed me this information from a general MOHELA email account at XXXX XXXX. XXXX then proceeded to provide all the boilerplate disclosures that one would expect after a phone call with a student loan servicer. At approximately XXXX EST, I received a text alert from my bank informing me that someone had attempted to purchase a gift card for {$510.00} from XXXX, a website that sells reloadable Visa/MasterCard gift cards XXXX and a variety of other gift cards to popular stores. I was not the person who attempted this purchase, nor have I ever purchased an online gift card from XXXX. Upon a review of my transactions, I saw that before the XXXX transaction, someone other than me had charged {$87.00} to insta cart. Both of these transactions occurred on XX/XX/2023, within approximately 40 minutes of the MOHELA representative obtaining my debit card information. Later on, my account reflected an additional Instacart charge for {$160.00}. After XXXX XXXX XXXX alerted me to the fraudulent charges on my debit card, I immediately froze the card. I had a pretty strong suspicion that the fraud had to be related to my phone call with MOHELA because of the proximity between the call and the fraudulent charges, and because I generally don't use that debit card for day to day purchases. I called MOHELA 's general number again, and was placed on hold for nearly XXXX hours. This time I did not feel comfortable reserving a call back, so I waited on the line the entire time. The next MOHELA representative I spoke with is named XXXX. After I explained all the circumstances, XXXX was extremely concerned. She immediately flagged that MOHELA agents are not allowed to take payment information over the phone, and certainly can not take debit card information over the phone. XXXX escalated the issue and I was transferred to someone named XXXX XXXX ( employee # XXXX ). XXXX and his supervisor ( first name XXXX XXXX combed through my account records and determined that the woman who stole my debit card information took steps to cover her tracks. For example, XXXX informed me that she was somehow able to change the time entries for the " note entries '' on my account to disguise her XXXX EST call to me. I have attached all the documentation that I have in support of my claim. It is my understanding that representatives from MOHELA are in possession of other information, including the identity of the responsible employee and a recording of the call where my information was stolen. Borrowers like me should not have to worry that actual employees of the institutions that the government entrusts to service student loans are stealing from them. I am thankful that the other employees of MOHELA have been genuinely helpful in helping me resolve this, but it is clear that it does not have appropriate safeguards in place to protect borrowers like me who are trying to be responsible and pay what they owe.

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