Consumer complaint received 2022-06-26
Company: Comerica
State: NE
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Charged for a purchase or transfer you did not make with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I was checking out at the grocery store when my Direct Express card was declined. I immediately checked on the app because I knew there were funds available, only to find several charges that I did not make accounting for over {$1700.00}! 

I immediately called the number on the back of my card and waited on hold for over XXXX hours! When they finally answered they closed my card and issued a new one, and I filed a dispute of all charges in question with the exception of the pending charges. I was informed that the pending charges would have to be disputed after they cleared the account and that they couldnt be stopped. I was assured that I would receive a full refund of all fraudulent charges after I filled out paperwork they were sending and an investigation was completed. 

While waiting for the paperwork and my new card to arrive, the pending charges cleared and I called back to dispute those as well. Unfortunately the first sign of trouble with this company was that I could not reach a person, but rather I received a message that my new card was on the way and to call back after my new card arrived. 

On XX/XX/XXXX the new card arrived along with the paperwork for the first dispute. I was able to call back and set up my new card, and only then was I able to get prompts to reach a person regarding reporting the charges that were originally pending. I was again assured that I would be receiving a refund after the paperwork for the second claim was received and investigated. 

I also noted that the paperwork said if I complete the paperwork within 10 business days, I would receive a provisional credit. For the first dispute the 10 days ended on XX/XX/XXXX, so I filled it out and mailed it on XX/XX/XXXX. I also faxed it on XX/XX/XXXX as an added layer of protection since it was so close to the 10 days being up. 

I called on XX/XX/XXXX to check on the status and I was told they hadnt received my documents. I was advised to re-fax them and also email them to ensure they got them in time. I did both of those, and called back on XX/XX/XXXX. Id like to note that every time I call it takes at minimum an hour to reach someone. 

On XX/XX/XXXX when I finally reached a representative, I was informed that my first claim was denied for lack of evidence. I had no idea this company expected me to investigate for them, but the representative advised me to call the companies where the charges were made and see if I could dig up any information. 

The first company I called was XXXX. There were several large charges from XXXX on my card that I did not make. In fact, I have a XXXX account, and I pay for XXXX XXXX subscription which gives free shipping and local delivery, and I pay annually for that service on my Direct Express card. My XXXX account shows my purchase history, and the fraudulent charges on my card are not on my XXXX account. One of the fraudulent charges was for a monthly XXXX subscription. Why in the world would I sign up for a second XXXX subscription on the same card? And why would I pay monthly for that when I already pay annually? This was the first obvious evidence. 

So then like I said, I called XXXX and interestingly they were able to pull up the charges with only the last 4 of my card number and the amount of each charge. From that information they were able to tell me who it was, what they charged, the persons email address, and where the orders were delivered. They were local orders from a store in XXXXXXXX XXXX I live in XXXX XXXX One order was for an XXXX computer. The other orders were for baby stuff like a car seat, baby bottles, pacifiers, baby wipes, formula etc, and for household cleaning supplies. I gathered all this information to be submitted as evidence. 

Next I called XXXX. There was almost {$200.00} in fraudulent charges to XXXX. The restaurants that the orders were from turned out to also be in XXXXXXXX XXXX! Clearly this person was having fun on my dime. Thankfully XXXX quickly realized the discrepancy as I am a customer of theirs in my city, and they issued a full refund. 

Next I called XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. There was a charge for over {$500.00} to XXXX  XXXX XXXX  on my card and I informed them that it was fraudulent and that thanks to XXXX I knew the name of the person who made the charge. They informed me they could not do anything without the social security number and account number of the person Well how would I know that, Im not the scammer! They told me to take it up with the bank. So next I called XXXX XXXX XXXX and was informed the same, that they can not do anything and to contact the bank. 

I continued to research the name XXXX gave me and found a XXXX page of a girl who lives in XXXX, has a baby, and has evidence of a bus pass scam right on her page. I screenshot that evidence as well. 

Then I went and submitted ALL of this evidence to Direct Express. I included written explanations of everything I have described here, screenshots of my XXXX account with all of my valid transactions since the beginning of XXXX, well before the fraud started, screenshots of the XXXX profile I found including the bus pass scam post and showing that this person has a baby, a detailed list of the transactions from XXXX and what was purchased literally everything I gathered I included. 

I also submitted a police report. When I first called Direct Express about this I was asked if I had filed a police report. This was literally an hour after I had discovered the issue late on a Friday night, so I had not filed a police report. When I told them I had not filed a police report I asked them if I needed to and the representative told me it wasnt necessary, so I didnt. When I filed the second claim, they asked again and I again asked if it was necessary and they said no. Then at a later time when I was calling to check the status of my claim and told it was denied, the representative suggested it might be a good idea to file a police report and submit the police report as evidence. All of the conflicting information is unprofessional and extremely frustrating. They should know the right answers, they deal with this everyday, this is the first time Ive ever dealt with something like this. 

In all I have spent over XXXX  hours on the phone with hold times at Direct Express and calling other companies to gather evidence, and Ive gotten no-where. I have requested a phone call from the investigators to get an explanation of their decision and to plead my case, but I have yet to hear back. 

I am only asking for them to do what is right. I want them to properly investigate this and charge the person responsible. Ive even made it clear several times that I will help in any way I can to bring them to justice. Im an honest person and I dont deserve this. I fact, there was even two more changes on my first claim that at first I didnt recognize and I wracked my brain trying to figure out what they were since they were from a neighboring town to mine and the rest of the charges werent from anywhere near me. I finally realized that those two charges were actually my own charges and asked them to remove those from the dispute because I only want refunded for actual fraudulent charges. If I was a scammer like the person who did this, I obviously would not have reported that. 

From my perspective this company is a sham and its a shame our government has contracted with them. Through my research trying to resolve this, I found that there are countless other claims for this exact type of fraudulent activity on Direct Express dating back several years, and the company rarely makes it right with cardholders. It is clear that the cards are compromised and susceptible to scammers, and Direct Express knows this but doesnt do anything about it. Its very sad because these cards are for XXXX, XXXX and veterans who depend on this money to scrape by as it is. 

I wan a full refund for these fraudulent charges as it is clear and all my evidence supports the fact that I did not approve or authorize any of the fraudulent charges! 

Here is a full list of the fraudulent charges and dates of the charges : XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$75.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX {$60.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$38.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$35.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$47.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$170.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$7.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$56.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$7.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX {$80.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$59.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) {$12.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$25.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$170.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX {$510.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$15.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX {$300.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX TOTAL : {$1700.00} XXXX did refund my account for those charges equaling {$190.00}, so I am asking for a refund for the remaining {$1500.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief