Consumer complaint received 2022-07-05
Company: Comerica
State: SC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Complaint commenced XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Draft of complaint to CFPB ; Against : Direct Express. 

By : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX Direct Express Debit Card Services // www.USDirectExpress.com XXXX XXXX XXXX // ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX TX XXXX WHAT HAPPENED? Part 1. 
This matter involves Direct Express Bank, a Comerica company which receives my monthly Social Security XXXX payments from the US Government. I've already checked with them, the U.S. Gov't, SSA a few times and they assured me that there is nothing wrong with the Social Security payments , not the amount, nor the dates of the payments being issued. There was nothing wrong with the Social Security Payments so the fault in this matter totally falls on Direct Express Bank. The problem bagan around last XX/XX/XXXX after Direct Express denied a series of my requests for the transfer of my funds to my original bank on file with them ( Direct Express ). These denials were going back to XX/XX/XXXX. Direct Express never did give me any specific reason for the non-approval of my transfer requests, but they would not say what it was something about my bank account on file with them or what. At this time and on several other occassions I asked Direct Express what specifically was wrong with my original bank account but they never gave me a specific answer. Since I couldn't get a decent answer I asked Direct Express if I could use another bank account to receive funds transfers from US Direct Express to which they replied yes I can. This sounded like the best solution, but I was not aware of the trouble I would go through ; Direct Express told me that I would only have to send them a few documents. It was now at this point that I decided to use a second bank account for Funds Transfers from Direct Express. 

The next part of this document deals with the 'personal " items Direct Express wanted me to send them in order to get my second bank account ( XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) authenticated for bank transfers from Direct Express . The point here is, that I complied with all of the details Direct Express wanted me to follow by emailing the documents to them to the following email address, they instructed me to send them to : - XXXX, This point is very important because this is the email address US Direct Express explicitly gave me to send them the required information they wanted, or needed, to authorize my second bank account to receive funds transfers from my account at Direct Express, but, 1 ) they ( Direct Express ) never did approve the second bank for transfers. 2 ) They never did give me any reason or explanations why they did not approve the authorization of my second bank ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ) and 3 ) thirdly, Direct Express made money transfers from out of my account at US Direct Express to some place else, possibly within their own bank, hence the missing funds from my account ( {$4000.00} ), when I tried to make other transfers were denied without explanation but was taken out of my account. Hence, I was trying to transfer money out of my US Direct Express account only to be denied and yet the money gets transferred somewhere else where I don't even know nor did I authorize. There is another point and that being : even though the email address XXXX is the only email address given to me by Direct Express and the only email address I used to send any and all documents to them US Direct Express, but I have never received any reply, approval, or2 correspondence whatsoever from US Direct Express using that email address they gave me. I find that to be quite peculiar. 

New Information follows : - The following information is from the correspondence I had with the paralegal from XXXX XXXX XXXX who referred me to ConsumerFinance.gov : Dear XXXX XXXX, As I indicated before, I have been having trouble with this email address ( XXXX ). Somehow, I don't receive any updated or current messages into this email address. This has been going on since XX/XX/XXXX since the time I was in correspondence with XXXX, that is why I switched to using XXXX. I'm sure the primary gmail address ( XXXX ) has been infiltrated and compromised which has made it possible for Direct Express to steal my funds out of my Direct Express bank account. I do remember receiving a notice from an XXXX XXXX agency saying that all they needed was my email address to steal my money. They weren't too specific so I could not act. But when Direct Express wanted the documents to be sent specifically by email and then my email gets cut off all of a sudden without explanation and then above everything else a large sum of money goes missing from my Direct Express account to where I sent my email address, my personal information including driver 's license with date of birth and they don't offer a response, to me this points to thievery on the part of 'direct express '. XXXX ; The next paragraph is an email I sent directly to Direct Express Authentication Dep't where I was told by Direct Express to send the documents ( the Past Two Current Bank Statements, Copies of Driver 's License front and back, they even wanted a copy of my credit card in order to get a second bank authorized to receive funds transferred from my account at Direct Express . When I did not hear from Direct Express after I sent them the information they wanted me to send them, I emailed the following letter to the email address Direct Express gave me to send the material they wanted : To : XXXX Hello US Direct Express, I sent this email to you last night or earlier this morning. My name is ... .. and I am trying to set up authentication for US Direct Express Bank to be able to send funds to my Bank Account at a local Bank . I was given the email address of " XXXX '' and was told to send two copies of my latest two bank statements from the Bank, a copy of my Drivers License, front & back and a copy of my credit card and statement to the email address I was given at " XXXX ''. Again, I earlier sent documents from my Bank Account to US Direct Express in an attempt to make it possible for you at USDirectExpress to be authorized to transfer funds from my account at US Direct Express to my local XXXX XXXXXXXX, I trust you received these documents and if not let me know what you need and send me the correct email address to send the correct documents. Also the matter would be easy but US Direct Express does not have a Routing Number, so I guess I have to go through this means. Please get back to me as soon as possible, Thank you. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Saturday XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Letter To : CFPB XXXX To : XXXX, ... .. Sun, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX  XXXX Document XX/XX/XXXX. New Information follows : - Dear XXXX XXXX, As I indicated before, I have been having trouble with my email address. Somehow I don't receive any updated or current messages from this email address. This has been going on since XX/XX/XXXX, that is why I switched to one of my secondary email addresses. I'm sure the gmail address has been infiltrated which has made it possible for Direct Express to steal my funds out of my Direct Express account. I'm sure and I do remember receiving a notice from an XXXX XXXX organization saying that all they needed was my email address to steal my money, I assumed XXXX XXXX  meant that someone with access to my money and/or my account. They XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  weren't too specific so I could not act, but when Direct Express wanted the documents to be sent specifically by email and then after I emailed the documents to Direct Express my email gets cut off all of a sudden without explanation and then above everything else a large sum of money goes missing from my Direct Express account to where I sent my email address, and they don't offer a response, this points to thievery on the part of 'direct express '. Unless the Lawyers could detect something else because I still wonder to this day, why didn't Direct Express get back to me after I sent them the documents they requested plus copies of my front and back Driver 's License. I'm not saying the entire Direct Express bank is corrupt, but there are surely some bad seeds among them. Among other things I do need to know what happened to my primary email address which went defunct from since I emailed my documents to Direct Express at XXXX. 

Corrected Copy of Forwarded message sent to US Direct Express : - I am trying to set up authentication for US Direct Express Bank to be able to send funds to my local Bank Account I was given the email address of " XXXX '' and was told to send two copies of my latest two bank statements from XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, a copy of my Drivers License ( front, and I believe there was one other item which right now I can not remember what that is but if you could let me know what that third item is I will resend all three back to the email I was given at " XXXX ''. Again, earlier I sent documents from my Account at XXXX XXXX XXXX to USDirectExpress in an attempt to make it possible for you at USDirectExpress to be authorized to send funds from my account at US Direct Express to my account at XXXX XXXX XXXX, I trust you received these documents and if not let me know what you need and send me the correct email address to send the correct documents. Also the matter would be easy but US Direct Express does not have a Routing Number, so I guess I have to go through this means. Please get back to me as soon as possible, Thank you, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX. I got no reply from Direct Express nor any XXXX  of explanation, this was months ago before my email address at ( XXXX ) stopped working properly. 


WHAT HAPPENED? PART 2 This matter involves Direct Express Bank, a Comerica company which receives my monthly Social Security XXXX payments from the Government. I've already checked with them a few times and they assured me that there is nothing wrong with the Social Security payments, not the amount, nor the dates of the payments being issued. There was nothing wrong with the Social Security Payments so the fault in this matter totally falls on Direct Express Bank. The problem began around last XX/XX/XXXX after Direct Express denied a series of my requests for the transfer of my funds to the bank, I have on file with them. These denials were going back to XX/XX/XXXX. Direct Express never did give me any specific reason for the non-approval of my transfer requests, but they did implicate that it was something about my bank account on file with them ( XXXX XXXX ). It was at this time that I decided to use a second bank account for Funds Transfers. The next part of this document deals with the 'personal ' items Direct Express wanted me to send them in order to get my second bank account authenticated for bank transfers from Direct Express . The point here being that I complied with all of the items Direct Express wanted me to email to them to the following email address, " XXXX '' but they never did approve the second bank for transfers. They never did give me any reason why they did not approve and thirdly they made money transfers from my account to within their own facility, hence the missing funds from my account ( {$4000.00} ), when I tried to make other transfers which were denied without explanation but was taken out of my account. New Information follows : - The following information is from the correspondence I had with the paralegal from XXXX XXXX XXXX who referred me to ConsumerFinance.gov Dear XXXX XXXX, As I indicated before, I have been having trouble with this email address. Somehow, I don't receive any updated or current messages from this email address. This has been going on since XX/XX/XXXX, that is why I switched email. I think the XXXX address has been infiltrated which has made it possible for Direct Express to steal my funds out of my Direct Express account. I do remember receiving a notice from somewhere saying that all they needed was my email address to steal my money. They weren't too specific so I could not act. But when Direct Express wanted the documents to be sent specifically by email and then my email gets cut off all of a sudden without explanation and then above everything else a large sum of money goes missing from my Direct Express account to where I sent my email address, my personal information including driver 's license with date of birth and they don't offer a response, to me this points to thievery on the part of 'direct express '. The next paragraph is an email I sent directly to Direct Express Authentication Dep't where I was told by Direct Express to send the documents ( the Past Two Current Bank Statements, Copies of Driver 's License front and back, they even wanted a copy of my credit card in order to get a second bank authorized to receive funds transferred from my account at Direct Express . 
Hello US Direct Express, I am trying to set up authentication for US Direct Express Bank to be able to send funds to my local Bank Account. I was given the email address of " XXXX '' and was told to send two copies of my latest two bank statements from my my local Bank, a copy of my Drivers License, and believe there was one other item a credit card and statement given at " XXXX ''. Again, I earlier sent documents from my Account at Bank to USDirectExpress in an attempt to make it possible for you at USDirectExpress to be authorized to send funds from my account at US Direct Express to my account at. I trust you received these documents and if not let me know what you need and send me the correct email address to send the correct documents. Also the matter would be easy but US Direct Express does not have a Routing Number, so I guess I have to go through this means. Please get back to me as soon as possible, Thank you. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Sun, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX PM XXXX Document XX/XX/XXXX. New Information follows : - Dear XXXX XXXX, As I indicated before, I have been having trouble with this email address. Somehow I don't receive any updated or current messages from this email address. This has been going on since XX/XX/XXXX, that is why I switched to. I think the gmail address has been infiltrated which has made it possible for Direct Express to steal my funds out of my Direct Express account. I'm not sure but I do remember receiving a notice from somewhere saying that all they needed was my email address to steal my money. They weren't too specific so I could not act. But when Direct Express wanted the documents to be sent specifically by email and then my email gets cut off all of a sudden without explanation and then above everything else a large sum of money goes missing from my Direct Express account to where I sent my email address, and they don't offer a response, this points to thievery from 'direct express '. Hello US Direct Express, I sent this email to you last night or earlier this morning. My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I am trying to set up authentication for US Direct Express Bank to be able to send funds to my Bank Account at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I was given the email address of " XXXX '' and was told to send two copies of my latest two bank statements from a copy of my Drivers License, email I was given at " XXXX ''. Again, I earlier sent documents from my Account at XXXX XXXX XXXX to USDirectExpress in an attempt to make it possible for you at USDirectExpress to be authorized to send funds from my account at US Direct Express to my account at the Bank I trust you received these documents and if not let me know what you need and send me the correct email address to send the correct documents. Also the matter would be easy but US Direct Express does not have a Routing Number, so I guess I have to go through this means. 


XXXX XX/XX/XXXX call to Comerica , where I was going over my transactions and was cut off from the conversation I was having with Direct Express going over the transactions and but just as we got to the transaction ( s ) where I could, and did, identify the discrepancy about the missing funds from my account, the agent from Direct Express rudely cut me off from the phone. They ( Direct Express ) disconnected me from the phone conversation so that all of the research and progress we were making over the phone at that time and instance had now been lost. I was not able to get Direct Express back, especially that agent who cut me off from the phone conversation just as I was pointing out what was wrong with the transaction ( s ) we were going over. 
I now believe the person who was posing as the Direct Express worker who so rudely cut me off from the phone, is named XXXX. XXXX also posed as a worker from Comerica who called me after I called Comerica to complain about not being able to connect with anyone from Direct Express I believe that this person calling herself XXXX is the same person representing Direct Express who cut me off from the phone conversation with Direct Express so that I did not have a chance to file a formal complaint against Direct Express, because I later received a call from someone saying they were from Comerica and her name is XXXX. Once again XXXX extracted from me as much information as she could. Then when I began asking this XXXX about resolving the case and getting the phone conversation I had with the Direct Express representative who had cut me off, XXXX became indignant and she herself also cut me off from the conversation, I could hear her slamming down the phone and ending the conversation still not giving me the opportunity of filing a formal grievance.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation