Consumer complaint received 2024-01-21
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: DISCOVER BANK (MA)

XX/XX/XXXX Approximately XXXX in the afternoon I received a phone call from Discover bank. I picked up the phone and a woman on the line began to proceed to tell me that she was from Discover and that she had to verify a recent transaction the was flagged. She asked for my full name, last four digits of my social security number and my mothers maiden name. She then told me she was sending a code to my phone to verify that I was who I am and had to read her the verification code. She said she verified that i was the account holder and began to go over the flagged transaction. The transaction was from a XXXX in Texas for a small amount of money. I told her that I did not authorize this and it was not me. Next she told me that she will go ahead and put a hold on my account so that no other purchases were made. She then asked me to go over my recent purchases with her and began to ask me was this purchase at _ you? and went over about 10 recent purchase from the days before. The only purchase I didnt recognize was from XXXX XXXX She then asked me if I recently used my debit card to pay for gas at a gas pump at XXXX in XXXX, MA. I said yes i did, and she the proceeded to tell me that my card may have gotten skimmed at the pump and told me to never use my card at the pump unless its tap to pay, or go inside the gas station to pay with my card. She proceeded to tell me that they were going to put a freeze on my account and that it would be locked. They would initiate a refund for the money that was spent at the XXXX and that i would see it in my bank in the next 3/4 days. The woman also told me that she will proceed to call me in the morning to follow up with all new bank account numbers and that she will put in a request to receive a new debit card. The phone call ended with her scheduling me a time the following day that she will give me a call. I told her XXXX XXXX  would work for me and she agreed to call me back at that time the next morning. 

XX/XX/XXXX Around XXXX XXXX. I receive a call showing Discover Bank on my phone. I pick up the phone and it was the same lady from the previous day that called me. Again she asked my last 4 digits of my social, my mothers maiden name and sent me a code to my phone to verify that it was me. She told me she was calling to inform me that overnight a wire transfer had been made on my account and that she needed to verify that it wasnt me that made the transfer. I told her it was NOT ME and asked why wasnt my account locked? She proceeded to tell me that the wire must have gotten submitted before my account was locked and that she would submit a wire recall. The total amount wired out of my account was {$14000.00}. The money was in my savings account, transferred to my checking account, and then wired out. She told me that because the wire was submitted overnight it wouldnt have gone through and that submitting the wire recall I would be all set. She told me that my account was locked and asked if i wanted a new debit card sent via XXXX  to my address. I said I would like the new card and all new account numbers. She told me she will call me back back in the afternoon with all new account numbers and to verify that my new debit card was send. 

XX/XX/XXXX I did not receive a follow up call from the previous day and called Discover Bank in the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. They had me verify my information again asking last 4 digits of social, mothers maiden name, and sent me a code to my phone to verify it was me who they were talking to. I asked them about my account and why i didnt receive a follow up call. They looked into my account and their call records and told me that no one from Discover called me and they instantly transferred me over to the fraud department. They told me the person who called me the past two days was definitely not from Discover and told me it was someone impersonating them. They told me that the scammer can hide their real number and make it come up as Discover Bank on my phone. They then locked my account and issued a wire transfer recall. They told me that the money was sent to a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account and that there was a possibility of me receiving my money back. They gave me all new bank account numbers and sent me a new debit card which I received about a week later. They told me they set up an investigation and that I might not receive any information about my money for up to 3 weeks. 

I called and followed up with the fraud department almost every week. Almost 3 months of calling Discover and asking about the fraud case I finally received an answer that Discover was not able to receive the funds back from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account that the money was wired too and told me there was nothing else they could do. They told me to file a police report but that was all they recommenced I could do. The fraud case number is # XXXX