Consumer complaint received 2022-12-14
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I opened a savings account at Navy Federal Credit Union on XX/XX/XXXX, to pay the loan I was getting from the bank. The teller and I discussed a checking account, and I advised her I did not need XXXX if I could pay the loan through my savings account. I was told before that, there were no options to pay the loan outside of transferring from a Navy Federal account or paying in person. I then transferred XXXX on the XXXX of XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX I transferred XXXX from my XXXX account to my Navy Federal savings account. Thereafter I waited for the car to arrive. I received an NFCU text message saying there may be suspicious activity on the account at XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I checked my account immediately after I noticed the text message. I noticed a new checking account and that my money was gone. Someone had created the checking account, transferred the money from my savings to the checking, and then transferred a total of XXXX in XXXX transfers to another bank to XXXX XXXX. I do not know this person. I called Navy Federal immediately and told them what happened. The initial person in the fraud dept. told me that there were several IP addresses that had accessed my account XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  He told me the name of the person to whom the money was sent, and I told him I did/do not know him. We began the process to secure my account and remove the unrequested and unauthorized checking account. At that time, a second checking was created by the agent to close the unauthorized checking account with the understanding it would be closed too. It was not needed. He said it would take up to 10 days to hear something back. I went to the branch where I opened the account to let them know what happened and to continue securing the account. I did not hear anything after a few days and called. The standard answer was they sent the request for funds to the other bank but have not heard from them. I called a few times to check the status and was told it could take up to 60 days. I didn't hear back from navy federal until I received a letter dating XX/XX/XXXX. It stated they found no error, so I was responsible for the transactions. Once I received the letter, I called the number listed provided. The answer from the initial fraud agent as well as the supervisor was that they couldn't determine if it was fraud or not. The supervisor said navy federal has no other recourse to return the funds if the other bank does not return them. Later that day I called back for the name of the bank the funds were sent to. It was the XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I had never heard of prior to the agent telling me. I have no association with the bank or the person the funds were transferred to. I filed a police report on XX/XX/XXXX case number XXXX XXXX XXXX. I called NFCU back that afternoon to request to speak with the CEO of the bank. They advised me there was no direct way to speak and that they wouldn't be available at that time. I was asked if I knew about the appeals process after she asked me to tell her what happened. I advised her that I wasn't aware and questioned why the fraud department didn't advise me of it. She asked if I wanted to speak with her supervisor in Customer Accounts. I said I will go through the process. I spoke with her and she didn't understand why it was denied and stated she would get back to me late afternoon the next day. I advised her I would go to the branch and speak with a manager. I went into the branch on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with the assistant manager. At first, she said I would have to take the legal route then she said she'd have to talk with that department to get more information. I told her to call, and she did. The fraud department came back and said the transaction was from XXXX device. I asked if it came from mine. She just said a device. I told her they were lying because the initial fraud agent had already told me the transactions were made XXXX XXXX XXXX. She then told me to fill out an appeals form and I did. She told me 15 days is what's on the sheet but there is no guarantee of when they would get back to me. I did not create an account to transfer money to someone else I don't know. The Navy Federal bank was/is only going to be used to pay the loan. I did not authorize anyone to create and checking account and transfer to a person I do not know, and a bank I know nothing about. Navy Federal denied my request for funds to be returned based on nothing I did.

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