Consumer complaint received 2019-05-21
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I want to file a complaint with USAA banking service and its money transfer service XXXX. I was a victim of a complex scam involving fraudulent checks and USAAs partner service XXXX and I believe USAA and XXXX did not do enough to protect my security. I was trying to find roommates for a house I wanted to live in, off campus from my University. I was in contact with an individual who " was out of the country on an internship '' but was interested in the house when she returned in time for summer classes. I was mailed a check to cover the security deposit on the house which ended up being larger than what we agreed upon ( XXXX instead of XXXX ). I was told to deposit the check and send the rest of the money back through XXXX. I deposited the check through the USAA mobile app and there were no errors and the funds were immediately made available as though the check was legitimate and the funds were sent to my account. USAA partners with and advocates the safety of using XXXX so I believed it was a safe service to use for me to send the remaining funds back with. I sent {$1000.00} total on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX EST and another {$1000.00} total on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX EST, so {$2000.00} was sent in total for my case. For the rest of the money, I was convinced to send it through XXXX XXXX. I placed the order with XXXX XXXX believing everything was still fine but my order was placed on hold and they contacted me explaining I was a potential victim of a scam. XXXX XXXX helped explain why they believed I was being scammed and gave me advice on what to do next ( contact police/bank ). I believed everything was fine until I checked my banks mobile app again and it had now said that the check has not been fully processed until XX/XX/XXXX. I called USAA on XX/XX/XXXX explaining what happened and was instructed to fill out a fraudulent report just explaining my story and that I would be updated in 3 business days. The check was canceled by the scammer two days later on XX/XX/XXXX and the bank called me telling me they would not help recover my funds because I was a victim of a scam and not fraud. Now that I realized I was a victim of a scam, I searched online and there are several cases of scammers exploiting USAAs security with fraudulent checks and its partner service XXXX. I believe USAA and XXXX failed to protect my security compared to other services like XXXX XXXX which ended up preventing me from being scammed further by holding my transaction until they could speak to me on the phone to obtain details on the transaction and warn me of scams. USAA and XXXX did not warn me or other users about how scammers are actively targeting and exploiting their clients through XXXX. In addition, USAA did not attempt to gather any sort of information and evidence from myself which may help in the capture of my scammer, the return of my funds, and the prevention of others who will be scammed in the future due to USAAs compliance with. Their lack of action with fraudlent checks and XXXX encourages scammers to continue expoliting clients who use their services.

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