Consumer complaint received 2026-06-07 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: Army and Air Force Exchange Service
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I am a XXXX XXXX veteran and XXXX XXXX card account holder. I am reporting fraud, unlawful debt collection, and documented Treasury Offset Program abuses by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service ( AAFES ) and its collection agent, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). The XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX, AAFES issued a written liability determination that states verbatim : This is a civil matter, due to your ex making the purchases. AAFES simultaneously held me responsible for those same purchases. An agency can not find that a third party made unauthorized charges and impose liability on the account holder in the same document. That determination is arbitrary and capricious on its face under XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX ), and constitutes a binding admission against interest that this debt is not owed by me. The Same-Day Denial On XX/XX/XXXX the day I first reported the fraud AAFES opened and closed my dispute within hours, before receiving my police report or IRS identity XXXX letter. The stated basis was procedural : fail to provide full details. No substantive investigation occurred. This does not satisfy the pre-referral validation requirement of 31 U.S.C. 3716 ( a ), which requires a genuine determination that a debt is valid and legally enforceable before Treasury referral. What AAFES Withheld AAFES possessed, throughout this entire dispute, account records showing both the email address and telephone number on my account had been changed to information not belonging to me the precise mechanism by which I was prevented from receiving billing statements and detecting the fraud. These records were produced only incrementally under years of repeated written demand. AAFES used my inability to provide the fraudulent contact information as the basis to deny my claim a circular determination that violates the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule, 16 C.F.R. 681.2. Additionally, on XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed AAFES requesting removal of the unauthorized user and replacement of my card. AAFES produced this removal request during the dispute process but has never produced any record showing how or when the unauthorized user was authorized to be added. That authorization record either does not exist or contradicts AAFESs findings. The Treasury Offsets Despite its own written acknowledgment that my former girlfriend made the purchases, AAFES referred this account to the Treasury Offset Program. TOP then intercepted my federal tax refund for the XXXX tax year in the documented amount of {$2600.00}. The IRS issued written notice to me inquiring why those funds had been returned a document I possess. When I contacted the IRS to recover the funds, AAFES caused the same {$2600.00} to be intercepted a second time. The same money was seized twice on a debt AAFESs own determination acknowledges I do not owe. Additional interceptions of XXXX Recovery Rebate Credit funds also occurred, on dates and amounts within the exclusive records of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service . XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is collecting this debt as a third-party agent under 15 U.S.C. 1692a ( 6 ). The CFPB sanctioned XXXX in XXXX with a {$2.00} XXXX penalty for pursuing debts it could not prove were owed. XXXX continued collection activity following my written dispute, on a debt determination that is void on its face, violates 15 U.S.C. 1692g ( b ). Relief Requested I request : ( 1 ) immediate clawback and restitution of all intercepted funds, including no less than {$5200.00} for the documented double-offset of my XXXX tax refund ; ( XXXX ) permanent removal of this account from the Treasury Offset Program ; XXXX XXXX ) discharge of the {$3200.00} balance ; ( XXXX ) production of the complete account change history and authorized-user authorization record ; ( XXXX ) full accounting of every TOP interception on this account ; ( XXXX ) referral to the Treasury Inspector General regarding AAFESs TOP certification ; and ( XXXX ) FDCPA enforcement action against XXXX.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation