A bank that built its business working with members of the military, veterans and their families reportedly rejected a customer’s plea for help after thousands of dollars disappeared in a mysterious hack.
Air Force veteran Cruzita Barron says a thief hacked into her United Services Automobile Association (USAA) account and stole a total of $10,000 in two unauthorized transfers, reports Fox News San Antonio.
Cruzita says USAA did not notify her that a substantial amount of money had left her account nor did the bank flag the transactions for suspicious activity.
She only discovered the theft about a week after the incident when her card was declined as she was buying coffee.
Cruzita got in touch with USAA who told her the thief moved her funds to another bank in an account bearing her name.
She requested the bank to follow the trail of the transactions, hoping USAA would reimburse the lost funds after seeing that she was a victim of fraudulent online transfers.
But instead of getting a refund, USAA charged an additional $1,500 because the two $5,000 transfers left her account with a negative balance, according to the report.
Says Cruzita,
“Come on now, like how does that make sense? This is stupid honestly, I’m sorry.”
In addition, Cruzita says USAA even froze her checking and savings accounts for suspicious activity, leaving her in a state of financial distress.
“I saved up that money and that money is important to me, and I feel like they’re not trying to find out where that money went and give it back to me.”
More than six weeks after the hacking incident, Cruzita reached out to Fox News San Antonio’s Problem Solver who contacted USAA on behalf of the Air Force veteran.
In a matter of days, USAA issued a partial refund of $8,500 to Cruzita.
Says USAA,
“Upon further investigation, we have decided to reimburse the member for funds lost through fraud.”
USAA is a full-service bank with over $2.423 billion in assets and more than 13 million members.
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