Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: DISCOVER BANK (ME)

I am writing to submit a complaint about Discovers Fraud Protection Services and their failure to complete a reasonable and thorough investigation into the Identity Theft and Fraud that was committed against me. 

I submitted a dispute against all charges on or after XXXX on a Discover Card account ending XXXX as unauthorized. They denied my dispute and supported their denial with payments I made on the account in XXXX. Their evidence is prior to the date my dispute begins and is therefore irrelevant to my dispute. Let me explain : I recently learned that my soon-to-be ex-spouse has committed significant identity theft and credit card fraud against me. He found some old credit cards of mine that I thought were closed and used them without my knowledge or consent. ( He also opened several credit cards using my personal information, without my consent or knowledge. ) My soon-to-be-ex spouse then built up a lot of debt in my name, mostly to fuel his addictive habits that he had led me to believe were under control. To my knowledge, I did not benefit from any of these unauthorized charges. He accomplished this because he was abusive and controlling and had full control of the mail, and because he took advantage of my vision impairment to ensure that I did not have access to any evidence of these debts that arrived by mail. I am working with a lawyer and have filed police reports and reports with the FTC. 

With the help of staff at my attorney 's office, I found that beginning sometime during or after XXXX he charged thousands of dollars to an old Discover card of mine, account ending XXXX. He then tried to pay it down without my knowledge by opening an account with a debt repair company called XXXX, also in my name and without my knowledge or consent. Most disturbing is that he appears to have also forged my signature on a court settlement agreement with Discover as well. 

On XX/XX/XXXX we submitted a complaint packet for this unauthorized use of this account. The packet included : -- a cover letter from my attorney explaining the situation -- a letter from me detailing the fraud ; how I learned about it, how I understand it occurred ; how my spouse admitted to it ; and requesting that they cancel the account and find me not responsible for the debt because the charges were unauthorized. 

Discover did not reply for a long time. On XX/XX/XXXX they requested additional information, including information that we had already sent. On XX/XX/XXXX, we sent them an additional packet of information, including Discovers additional information form, where I made clear that I was disputing all charges after XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Discover responded that they did not accept our dispute. They claimed that their investigation found the account balance to be accurate. For supporting documentation, they sent images of checks that I had written in XXXX. 

Their supporting documentation demonstrates that they did not conduct a thorough investigation based on the facts that we shared. I opened this account some years ago, but I had stopped using it. I explained on their fraud form that I was disputing all charges during and after the year XXXX. The fact that I made payments on the account in XXXX is irrelevant to the complaint that I submitted. It was not until sometime around or after XXXX that my spouse began putting unauthorized charges on the account. Therefore, payments I made in XXXX are NOT evidence that charges made on the account after XXXX are authorized. 

If Discover had done a thorough investigation, they would have found enough evidence to determine that I had stopped using this card and this debt is not mine and is a product of unauthorized use, such as : A significant gap in use of this card between when I stopped using it and when my spouse found it and began using it without my permission. 
All wet ink signatures on any documents after XXXX do not match wet ink signatures from when I opened the account or on checks I wrote to make payments prior to XXXX. 

Discover did not conduct a reasonable investigation into these unauthorized charges. I feel that their " fraud protection services '' are not protecting consumers like me.