Consumer complaint received 2022-12-06
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION (DC)

In XXXX of XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX, I believe ), I checked my online banking app from home only to find that someone had been using my card throughout the day, racking up {$1100.00} in fraudulent charges. I had not left my house all day and all of these charges were made in-person, by persons unknown to me. 

I was not aware that my card was not in my possession on the day these charges were made because I very rarely left the house between XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX due to XXXX and my XXXX. At the time, I worked from XXXX  and typically only left the house XXXX times per week to check on my grandmother and to pick up groceries and other items I ordered with my card online. I did not and still do not go into stores to shop. I noticed I did not have my card in my purse the day before these charges were made, but I had gone to the hardware store a day or two before and put the card in my sweatpants so I assumed it fell out of my pocket in my car ( as has happened before ). I checked the Navy Federal app that same night and saw no activity so I assumed the card was somewhere I could easily find it and did not call Navy Federal about it because getting my card replaced the last time I lost it was so cumbersome and inconvenient. 

However, upon seeing these charges the next evening, I realized that my card had been lost somewhere in the public space and that someone else had picked it up and was using it at various locations in the area, and also using it to pay for XXXX rides between these locatons. I have not used XXXX to catch a ride in six years. 

I immediately called Navy Federal as soon as I saw these charges on my mobile app and asked my card be cancelled. The representative I spoke to was very dismissive when I asked what other recourse I had besides the card being cancelled. They told me to call back after the charges were approved and no longer pending in order to dispute the charges and recoup the money that was spent. I made that phone call on XX/XX/XXXX and was told I would receive a provisional credit while the matter was investigated. The bank then snatched these funds back on XX/XX/XXXX, leaving me out nearly an entire month 's rent under the false pretense that the card had been in my possession when the charges were made, despite my clear explanation that I had not left the house, had no reason to suspect my card was not in my possession prior to seeing that fraudulent charges were made, and despite the fact that the locations and spending patterns associated with that day are nothing like any other spending I had ever done in my two decades of having a Navy Federal account, much less in the 1.5 years prior to this incident, as the majority of my shopping has been via online transactions. 

I reached back out to Navy Federal on XX/XX/XXXX ( when I was notified ) to appeal the decision and later, to request the audio recordings of my conversations with Navy Federal representatives that led them to allege that the card had been in my possession. The email I sent them on XX/XX/XXXX to document this and request the audio was not only ignored, but then Navy Federal enrolled me in low balance alerts for my checking account without my knowledge or permission.