Consumer complaint received 2019-05-28
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
I am filing this complaint in an attempt to resolve an issue that has become very frustrating. I was a victim of identity thief in the month of XXXX of XXXX and purchases were made to my credit card without my knowledge. Charges were charged to my business credit card account associated with Navy Federal Credit Union out of Washington DC at two separate store locations. One was XXXX in the amount of {$8300.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and the other was XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$4700.00}. On that day XXXX received a text from NFCU asking if I made these purchases or if I was aware of them being made. I immediately replied no and then I received a follow up phone call from a rep at NFCU. I explained to the representative that I did not authorize those charges and that I was not even in the Washington DC at the time. I was in XXXX GA where I reside at my house when I received the text notification. They asked if I still had my card, I put them on hold and checked and verified that my card was indeed in my possession. Apparently the charges that was attempted went through which I don't know why they would allow it when charges that came out of Washington DC should have flagged my account in the first place. I made no other charges to my credit card in that area during that month or any preceding month. They took some other information and said they would review the claim and would follow up with me. In the meantime, the representative asked me to go ahead and destroy the card and a new one would be sent out to me. I did what the rep asked. They also stated they would remove all charges that I claimed were fraudulent off my credit card balance during the review process. Fast forward two months later and the charges were still present on my account and that I realized I was now accumulating interest on those charges. I called NFCU and about the charges and they said the rep that initially reported my claim should have processed to remove the charges but they did not. The rep. apologized and said they would remove all charges claimed along with the interest that accumulated while claim was being reviewed. The charges and interest was then removed my account. Fast forward a couple of more months later and I received a call around the beginning of XXXX in which a representative stated he was handling the review of my claim and asked me again if I had my card in my possession when the charges occurred. I said yes. He then said that is not possible since they received some type of ping that lets them know that the card used during the fraudulent charges was indeed my card. I disagreed of course, but all he said was he would review further and get back to me. About less than a week later the charges showed back up on my account and a letter was sent out stating they denied my claim and slapped me with the charges. I called again and disputed. They said that I needed to file a police report and they would review further. I did file a police report and sent it to them. I also volunteered to try to send them phone records showing I made phone calls out of the XXXX GA during the day the fraudulent transactions occurred. Fast forward a month later at the end of XX/XX/XXXX and they sent me a second denial letter. This is crazy. I never had anything like this happen to me before. I have been a customer of XXXX for 20+ years. I have always made payments on time. I have a business account, business credit card, personal credit card, personal bank accounts and even a mortgage through this bank and I feel as though from day one, they have been trying to find a way to deny the claim instead of working to find out who did this and how did it happen to my account. I have been the one volunteering to provide any information they asked for, but I really only had within a 5 month time span two conversations with a representative and the second time I initiated the conversation which they all they said was a letter would be sent to me stating their decision. They couldn't even explain anything to me over the phone. How do you treat a long time customer like this. The first customer service representative only spoke to me once for less than five minutes to gather information before they decided I was responsible for the charges. I am very careful with my credit and spending. My purchase history will show that I have never spent such a large amount at a time and I do not shop at the businesses where the fraudulent charges were made. I don't understand why their system shouldn't have red flagged these charges in the first place without allowing them to go through. I am requesting that you please help me resolve this situation as I take my credit very seriously and do not want this to have a negative impact on my credit. Please feel free to contact me directly if you need any further information. I attached all documentation I could to further assist. Thank you.

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