Consumer complaint received 2022-05-25
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Can't close your account

Complaint:
Hello, Someone fraudulently opened a checking account with USAA using my name/information. I found out because in mid XXXX I received a debit card from USAA that I never requested, nor should be able to receive since I'm not a service member nor have I ever been. I contacted them and after multiple calls, days, and hours of my time they finally were able to deduce that the account was fraud and that they would proceed to close it. I asked that once the account was closed to please send me a physical/mailed confirmation that the account was closed, both for my records and peace of mind. I believe that sending out a letter stating that an account has been closed is common practice with banks, or at least it has been in my experience. I also feel like given the fraud situation this is something that should be provided to the person affected without hesitation. 

A few days ago ( late XXXX ), I received a bank statement from USAA about this fraudulent account. This was worrisome, so I decided to call them to figure out why I was receiving a bank statement from them, and also why I had never received a mailed confirmation of the account being closed like I had requested. They then proceeded to ask me for all my personal information ( name, address, social security number ), to which I told them that I would be happy to give them my name and address but I didn't feel comfortable sharing my social security number because of the exact security issue that I was dealing with them about. I them proceeded to be told that I could not be " authenticated '' and was hung up on. 

I then proceeded to call back and finally got someone on the phone that would help me to some degree. The person asked for my SS number again and out of frustration I gave them my information in hopes of some resolution. She then confirmed that the fraudulent account had been closed, however that she wasn't sure if a physical/mailed confirmation could be mailed out to me. However that she would put in a " request '' for physical/mailed confirmation to be sent to me but that didn't mean that I would actually receive said confirmation. 

This whole issue has been going on for months and has been a huge headache. As a bank serving the American people ( not to mention our armed forces ) I believe it's their responsibility to act quickly and justly when they're informed that they're involved with fraudulent activity. Banks have security measures to prevent this type of fraud from happening. It is clear that they either don't have these security measures or they're set up to bypass them in certain cases. They have demonstrated to me that they have no concerns for the public or their consumers, this is shown by the lack of clear answers and also inability to fulfill a request made by someone affected by their lack of security measures. 

I'm not sure if this complaint is addressed to the correct governmental organization. However I do believe that USAA lack basic consumer protections that put me in this situation and I'm sure plenty of others. As a financial institution they should have solid consumer protections and security measures in place to minimize the risk of this happening. 

Thank you

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