Consumer complaint received 2026-07-15 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: WY

Complaint narrative:
I am submitting this complaint because I believe USAA Federal Savings Bank did not fully evaluate the circumstances surrounding my fraud claim and instead focused solely on the technical authentication of the transaction rather than the sophisticated impersonation and social engineering that caused the loss. On XX/XX/year>, I received a text message from a five-digit short code claiming to be from USAA regarding suspected fraudulent activity on my account. Shortly afterward, I received a phone call that appeared to come from a USAA telephone number. The caller identified himself as XXXX, stated that he was a USAA employee, and provided what he claimed was a USAA employee identification number. During the call, he demonstrated extensive knowledge of my account and personal information, including my USAA membership information, address, Social Security XXXX, and recent account transactions. Based on the information he possessed and the apparent USAA phone number, I reasonably believed I was communicating with a legitimate USAA representative. The caller informed me that fraudulent activity originating from Oklahoma had been detected and explained that security procedures and simulations were necessary to protect my account. Acting in the good-faith belief that I was following USAAs fraud prevention instructions, I completed a {$2400.00} XXXX XXXX transaction. I did not intend to send money to a scammer, make a gift, or voluntarily transfer funds to a criminal. My sole intention was to protect my account based on instructions that I reasonably believed came from USAA. I immediately reported the incident to USAA and filed a fraud claim. USAA denied my claim, concluding that the transaction was authorized because it originated from my XXXX XXXX account and my personal device. I subsequently requested the documentation relied upon in making that determination. The documents provided by USAA and XXXX XXXX establish that the transaction originated from my device and authenticated XXXX XXXX account. I have never disputed those facts. My complaint has never been that someone hacked my XXXX XXXX account or bypassed authentication. My complaint is that I was induced to authorize the transaction through a sophisticated impersonation of USAA. The documentation provided to me focuses on transaction authentication, prior XXXX XXXX activity, and device information. However, the materials provided do not appear to address the impersonation, the spoofed communications, the callers knowledge of my personal and account information, or the social engineering that caused me to reasonably believe I was acting under USAAs direction. I also submitted a written appeal to USAAs Executive Resolution Team after receiving the initial denial. Despite that appeal, USAA upheld its decision. My family has been USAA members for more than 20 years. Throughout that time, we trusted USAA to protect its members from fraud and to carefully evaluate claims involving sophisticated scams targeting its customers. I respectfully request that the CFPB review whether USAA adequately considered the impersonation and social engineering aspects of my claim when determining that the transaction was authorized. I also request that USAA conduct a meaningful review of the circumstances surrounding this loss and reconsider its decision. I am seeking reimbursement of the {$2400.00} that I lost as a direct result of this sophisticated impersonation scam and a written explanation addressing how the impersonation and social engineering evidence I reported was evaluated during USAAs investigation and executive review.

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