Consumer complaint received 2025-02-13 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
Summary of Fraud Incident : On XX/XX/year>, at XXXX XXXX XXXX, I received a call from an individual posing as a Navy Federal Credit Union ( NFCU ) Fraud Specialist. He claimed that fraudulent XXXX loans had been approved on my account and needed to be refunded. Initially skeptical, I attempted to end the call, but he reassured me and directed me to check the phone number on my NFCU debit card, which closely matched the number he was calling from. 
He then instructed me to check my Navy Federal app, where my checking and savings accounts were missing, claiming that NFCU had temporarily frozen them for security reasons. He guided me to approve push notifications in my app, which I later realized were fraudulent attempts to access my account.

Over the next three days, the fraudster had me transfer roughly {$15000.00} via XXXX and XXXX XXXX transactions, falsely claiming that these were necessary security measures to secure my account. On XX/XX/year>, I received an NFCU fraud alert about a {$200.00} charge attempt on my credit card. After confirming it was unauthorized, I was contacted by a legitimate NFCU fraud representative, who informed me that NFCU had never been in contact with me before and that I had fallen victim to fraud. 

Upon further investigation, I discovered that : - My Navy Federal app had been compromised before I even spoke to the fraudsterboth my checking and savings accounts were already removed from my view.

- Multiple unauthorized transfers had been made to an " Other '' account that I did not recognize.

- NFCU never flagged or stopped the fraudulent transactions, despite the large volume of transfers.

How Navy Federal Mishandled My Fraud Claims : I immediately reported the fraud on XX/XX/year>, within XXXX business days, which is well within my Regulation E protection period. However, NFCU denied my fraud claim without ever contacting me for an investigation, despite multiple representatives telling me I would be reached out to.

1. NFCU Failed to Investigate Before Denying My Fraud Claim After submitting my fraud claim, I was informed that I would receive an email for further investigation, but no such email was ever sent. Another representative told me that I would receive instructions for filing an appeal, which I also never received. Despite these assurances, NFCU denied my fraud claim without speaking to me or gathering additional information.

2. NFCU Provided No Justification for the Denial When I received my fraud denial, it contained no explanation or reasoning as to why my claim was rejected. Regulation E ( 12 CFR 1005.11 ) requires a financial institution to conduct a reasonable investigation before denying a claim, yet NFCU never contacted me for further details or evidence. The denial was made despite the fact that my accounts had been compromised before I even spoke to the fraudster, which should have indicated that I was not responsible for the transactions. 

3. NFCU Failed to Detect or Prevent Fraudulent Transactions Over 30 unauthorized transactions occurred, yet NFCU never sent a fraud alert until the scammer attempted a {$200.00} credit card charge on XX/XX/year>. My accounts were removed from my app before I even engaged with the scammer, yet NFCU failed to flag this as suspicious activity. Despite their fraud prevention systems, none of the fraudulent transactions triggered alerts or were blocked in real time. 

4. NFCU Violated My Rights Under Regulation E and the EFTA 12 CFR 1005.6 states that consumers are only liable for {$50.00} if they report unauthorized transactions within two business days, which I did. NFCU wrongfully placed liability on me, despite my timely report and the clear fraudulent nature of the transactions. Under 12 CFR 1005.11, NFCU was required to investigate and provide a clear explanation of their decision, which they failed to do.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation