Consumer complaint received 2025-09-04 00:00:00
Product: Credit 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
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX approached my inbox through the social media platform XXXX. XXXX XXXX is the owner and CEO of TEAM Trading, a server with approximately XXXX members. XXXX XXXX is a membership-based server that offers a variety of services, including expert trading on stocks. XXXX XXXX goes by the username XXXX. XXXX XXXX has approached my inbox, asking how I am and how my trading was going. I took this as an owner checking on his member 's progress and satisfaction. I had replied that as of late, my tading had not been going good, and that I was losing a lot of money on investments. XXXX XXXX had replied with messages that explained how I just missed an opportunity. When I inquired about what type of opportunity, XXXX XXXX had explained if I had cash or credit available. He continued by explaining how he is starting a new service as part of XXXX XXXX, that he was offering as a free service to a few members, before he went public with it and made it a fee-for-service. The service had consisted of the following : Provide funds to XXXX XXXX, that he would match, and put into the stock market. 
This service would include bi-weekly updates This service would include direct training and mentoring throughout the process And so at a time of desperation, I had provided him with the funds he requested. These funds amounted to {$3000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. For the first few weeks, communication was not done. I had given the benefit of the doubt, since it was just the startup. However, XXXX XXXX had reached out, asking for more funds. He had claimed that if he can reach {$25000.00}, he can day trade more easily and make the profits he had promised to make. On XX/XX/XXXX, I had made a payment for {$1200.00} and on XX/XX/XXXX, a payment for {$2200.00}. I had raised concerns that I reached my credit limits, but he had reassured me everything would be fine. Following this, communication was extremely hard. He had told me not to text him on his cellphone, as he wanted to separate business and personal life. Anytime I reached out, he would disregard the messages, whilst being active in the XXXX XXXX server during full market hours, making alerts for the members. Even after market hours, he would be in the server, discussing non-market related topics. After many messages, he would eventually respond, a practice still done to this day. He would explain something going on personally, and why he could not provide the service that was promised. Other times, he would state that later in that day or the next day, he would provide information or conduct a phone call to explain what is happening, which would end up being a false promise. The service failed to provide biweekly updates, with only XXXX real update on the account in XXXX months. With that update, there was no proof of the account, just a written amount that was sent. 
This has deeply affected my personal life. I was already in financial trouble, with only a few XXXX dollars in my account. As a medical student, I am not permitted by my school to work, and I am already paying {$50000.00} a year for tuition, and a few XXXX XXXX  for other expenses, like travel and food. I saw this opportunity as something that could really help me in the short term while being a student. Without any sort of income, I was stuck waiting for any glimpse of response from XXXX XXXX. After each month, my credit bills have been continuously sending me bills, late fees, and accumulating interest. My credit cards have been maxed out, and I have no ways to pay them off. I can also make no purchases for myself using the credit cards, and have to rely on buying life-sustaining items with the small amount of cash I have. I have attempted to work side jobs, but fear that if my institution found out, that I would be severely reprimanded by the institution. 
Concerns were being raised, and I had found that at least XXXX others have been affected by this, with many others still unaccounted for. It is difficult to find others, as XXXX XXXX deletes any comments or posts that XXXX even give any idea of the situation. Numerous times, he has deleted comments that call for his attention in the public servers to read his private messages. The few members that I am aware of have gotten together, and we have shared messages and promises that were made, and it was consistent across the board. XXXX XXXX would use the same copy-and-paste message for some members here, and used the same excuses or word usage for others who were at different stages of the process. We were confused, as XXXX XXXX consistently makes calls in his XXXX XXXX XXXX, where very commonly he makes 100 % + profits on option calls, sometimes claiming to hit upwards of 5,000 %. We collectively figured that we are not going to see our money being returned. 
Upon talking with former XXXX, members, who were once the leaders of XXXX XXXX, they have told our small group that XXXX XXXX has done this in the past, and they left the Discord or their leadership positions because they did not want to be a part of this. They also confronted XXXX XXXX at the time, and XXXX XXXX had ensured it would not happen again. 
Most recently, we had called each other for the first time, after I had told him I was going to solve this dispute through my credit card and/or XXXX. He wanted to call but was very adamant that I do not record the phone call and that he did not consent to being recorded. The following is what was discussed during the call : XXXX. He had about {$2600.00} he claimed he was ready to send on the day he promised to return my full investment ( Friday, XX/XX/XXXX ). However, he claimed the money was on hold and can not be transferred. 
XXXX. He claimed that he had $ XXXX balance in his XXXX account. 
XXXX. He admitted that he initially started this with XXXX member a while back, but that it had failed. So he decided to try with another member to recoup what he had lost, and it turned into a Domino-effect. Therefore, his original intention was not to provide an investment opportunity, but rather, to sort out his own personal financial troubles. 
XXXX. He knows there are others who also want their money back, but that they will be put on long term plans and I would be put on a short-term plan due to its urgency. 
XXXX. He promised hed get a plan for me very shortly. 
After the call, I had given him XXXX last opportunity to make things right and told him an instalment plan for the payments was okay, but after waiting many days and also finding out that he had told other members very similar messages I had decided that it was best for another agency to handle this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief