Consumer complaint received 2022-12-08
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Bounced checks or returned payments

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX - contacted by text by someone impersonating XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  to set up an interview with their Hiring Manager via XXXX or XXXX. 
XXXX - Interview took place via XXXX- through text. The job seemed challenging, the company seemed legit ; so when the guy asked me to hold while he checked with his superiors, I waited. XXXX the company & jobs by them in the meantime. Nothing seemed off enough to warrant pulling the plug. 
Among the benefits originally offered was the purchasing of home-office equipment, which Id heard of before. 
XXXX - the guy asked me to check my email. Enclosed was a job offer, which I accepted. 
The guy told me the paperwork would be coming soon for me to fill out & sign. Once all the paperwork was taken care of & the companys office equipment was set up in my home, I could start the job. 
I was asked to take pictures of my workspace & a headshot for a company card The company would be mailing it me a check to purchase home-office equipment from specific vendors that the company had existing business relationships with. I was to document each transaction precisely to report back to the accounting department. 
I was then asked how soon I could start. I said as soon as possible. 
The guy then offered to email the check for me to mobile deposit. I didnt even know that was possible & I was surprised it would even work. 
XXXX a cashiers check for appx {$4500.00} from a local business was emailed to me. 
The guy then gave me XXXX information of the vendor I was to pay. Since my daily limit was maxed out at {$1000.00} he asked me to transfer the rest to XXXX & send via friends & family, which I did. 
3 hours later, the guy asked me if I had the chance to go over the contract yet. I said yes & asked him to whom I could address all of my questions. He responded to himself. 
I sent him 10 questions, 9 of which he answered satisfactorily. The tenth one I asked again. His answer was again weird ; but it was one out of ten, so I decided to trust him. I filled out & signed the contract ; IRS form i-9 & w-4. 
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX - the guy contacted me ; the HR department had received my paperwork. There was one more check to send out to cover the rest of the equipment. I received another cashiers check in the amount of {$4500.00} I sent my daily maximum of {$1000.00} via XXXX 
We then attempted to figure out how to send the rest. He said the vendor preferred not to use XXXX. There followed a series of frustrating attempts to open XXXX ; XXXX XXXX & XXXX XXXX. I contacted XXXX customer service & XXXX  customer service. 
They both congratulated me on getting a new job & were very helpful in getting the money transferred out so I could begin earning money as soon as possible. 
Saturday for me is a religious day. When I attempted to log onto my bank app afterwards I was informed my account had been locked. I called the number provided & was informed that this is a known scam. I asked why none of the representatives I spoke with on Friday had mentioned anything. The fellow I was talking with didnt reply. 
The first check bounced the day before XXXX. The account being drawn from was closed. 
I called XXXX  & asked what the story is now. The lady who answered said Id have to wait for the other check to bounce. 
I asked if XXXX  would take any responsibility due to the fact that three of their representatives did not say anything to me about scam possibilities. She laughed at me. Oh no! XXXX  takes no responsibility for scams! They certainly wouldnt mention anything like that to their clientele. 
Once the second check bounced I called again ; I asked if XXXX  could work with me to set up a payment plan. They said no. I asked what was being done about attempting to catch this guy. I was still in contact with him & was pretending to be stupid to draw out as much information from him as I could ( I knew it was a man. He had left a voicemail over Saturday. ) I was informed that nothing was being done & I would be fully responsible. 
The next day I tried one more time. I spoke with different representatives this time. I told them I had been able to get two other company checks from the scammer by telling him that the pdf wasnt working : one from XXXXXXXX XXXX & one from a tiny local bank down in Florida. I asked them if the bank would cooperate with me in attempting to create a payment plan for me especially since I had never heard of a scam this comprehensive & their fraud department made it sound like it was a known scam To both questions I was told that the bank would not take any action but that I was fully responsible. 
Help!!!!!! They called again last night & said they were going to take the matter to collections. The scammer if clear & dry & hes just going to do this to more & more people. I copied some of the script he sent me & googled it. There was a posting from back in XXXX! Only hed made it better since then Please help I have submitted a fraud report to the FTC ; the attorney general & the social security administration. I also attempted to contact my local police department but havent heard from them

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