Consumer complaint received 2026-06-01 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a formal dispute against USAA for a clear violation of Regulation E ( Electronic Fund Transfer Act ) error-resolution requirements following an unauthorized Electronic Fund Transfer ( EFT ) of {$19000.00}. On XX/XX/year>, fraudsters impersonating the USAA Fraud Department called me. They asked if I had made a {$1000.00} purchase at XXXX and {$500.00} at XXXX. I responded " No '' to both. Then they said there was an additional flag showing that someone had tried to repeatedly make a wire transfer from my account, in-person from a local XXXX bank. They asked if I had my drivers license and debit card in my possession since the only way someone could do the transaction was to physically have those documents. I told them I had them and that I had never been to that bank branch. The fraudster proceeded to tell me that they were going to investigate the account. They sent me a verification text code to 'verify my identity and the account info ' and asked me to read it back to them. They used this code to execute an Account Takeover ( ATO ). Once inside my portal, they quickly altered my account 's custom nicknames to read " Under Investigation '' and changed the viewing preferences so that I could not see my balances at a glance instead, my bank apps Home Screen said " Balances Hidden. '' I later learned that during this time, they also transferred {$20000.00} from my savings account to my checking account and authorized an increase in my daily debit card transaction limit to {$20000.00}. Then the fraudster said that someone at the XXXX bank branch was trying to initiate the wire transfers and that I needed to immediately to go the bank to do a 'test ' transaction and see if the transaction was faulty or if someone at the bank was doing something nefarious. The fraudster kept me on the phone the whole time I drove to the bank, making everything seem urgent and harried. They told me when I got inside the bank to look for anything that seemed suspicious like agents not wearing name badges, on their phone, being nervous, etc. They told me to fill out a deposit slip in the amount {$19000.00}, account number XXXX, and name : " XXXX LLC ''. They said to take it to the teller and ask for a cash transfer from my USAA account to the account on the slip and to get 'both receipts '. I had asked repeatedly if I was going to see any deduction from my account and they assured me I wouldn't. I did the transaction and left the bank. They asked me questions like " was anyone acting suspicious, was everyone wearing their name badge. '' They said to go home and they would show me where on the USAA website to upload the receipts to submit for the fraud claim. When I got home, they said that it appeared that shortly after my transaction at the bank someone tried to initiate a wire with my husband 's information at the same bank. I had been on the phone over an hour and a half. At this point, my husband was listening in on the conversation and we started asking questions. They abruptly hung up the phone. I immediately called USAA and relayed all this to the claims/fraud department. That is when they informed me that someone had gone into my account and raised our debit card limit and transferred money from my savings to my checking account. After filing the claim with USAA, we went back to XXXX bank branch and got a copy of the deposit slip. They said that it was a cash advance, not a wire transfer that was initiated. They said that the money was deposited into a XXXX bank account but that they could not put a hold on the funds being released until they received notification from USAA. XXXX suggested we file a police report, which we did with XXXX XXXX XXXX in Pennsylvania ( in the jurisdiction where the bank operates and we live ). USAA has denied my initial fraud claim and an appeal, arguing that because I provided the 2FA passcode and physically used my card, the transaction was " authorized. '' This is a direct violation of official CFPB Regulation E Guidance ( Electronic Fund Transfers FAQs : Section 2 on Unauthorized EFTs ). The CFPB explicitly states that when a consumer is fraudulently induced into providing validation credentials or passcodes to an entity misrepresenting itself as the financial institution, the resulting transfer is legally Unauthorized. The root cause of this loss was a successful account takeover facilitated by deceptive credential harvesting. The CFPB explicitly states that if a criminal tricks you into giving up account credentials ( like a password or a 2FA code ) by pretending to be your bank, you did not grant permission to be robbed. And Federal consumer protection regulations always override any private bank policies that might state, " If you share your password or 2FA code, you are responsible for all losses. '' I am requesting that CFPB demand that USAA honor federal law, reverse their denial, and credit my account for the {$19000.00}.

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