A local man said someone stole money right out of his USAA bank account because the company lacked security. 5 On Your Side Investigators have been reporting on growing problems with identity theft. We dug into this veteran's claims and got a response from USAA.
"This is a danger for all of us and I don't have the military to back me up anymore. I don't have a base to run to anymore,” said the northeast Ohio man who doesn’t want to use his real name. We'll call him Marcus. He said he served in the Air Force and dealt with confidential military information.
He told us he's now worried for his family's safety after his own personal information was stolen from his USAA account. "Someone had called 4 times previously on my account,” said Marcus. He went on to say no one at USAA made a note about those suspicious calls. He said the 5th call from the fraudster worked. "They basically said that the customer service representative that gave them my information was just so bent on giving the best customer service possible that they ignored all of the red flags."
The thief took $700 from the checking account.
A quick search found other people have posted online about similar issues. One person wrote there were multiple fraudulent charges made even after he called USAA. Another person claims the company didn't ask for a security code until he mentioned it. And another said USAA mailed the hacker his new bank cards and that the false address was still in USAA’s system.
USAA sent us this statement:
“As data breaches become more common, fraudsters have gained access to consumers’ personally identifiable information such as social security and phone numbers, which can be used to commit additional fraud at third parties, like financial institutions. All consumers and financial institutions share the responsibility of fighting fraud. This is why USAA offers multifactor authentication for all members, which is another layer of security, reducing the risks of fraudsters using member data to obtain access to accounts. Our members are also protected by our zero liability policy which ensures members are not responsible for fraudulent charges reported on their accounts.”
Here's some info on the rise of account takeover.
Thank you,
Gloria Manzano | Director | Risk & Audit Communications
Corporate Communications, Enterprise Strategy & Marketing, USAA
9800 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, Texas 78288
The bank did replace the $700 in Marcus' account. Now he is looking for compensation for the aggravation and any future problems that might come up and he wants more action from the company.
"I'd really like them to increase their security,” said Marcus. “Now the last time I talked to the CEO's office, they said they were working on it. Admittedly they have lack security. That is what they told me.”
