Indiana woman fights credit union lawsuit over $200 she says she was scammed out of
MICHIGAN CITY, Indiana (CBS) – CBS 2 has warned you about scam after scam involving fake bank employees.
Someone calls, asks a few questions, then poof! Money disappears from your account. Sometimes victims get their money back.
Other times, they don't. Morning Insider Lauren Victory shared an unusual case where a woman's refund involves a court date.
The inside of a Michigan City barber shop looks pristine even though cleaner Debbi Clemons is dealing with a big mess.
"I'm self-employed," Clemons said. "I have to miss a day of work."
That's because she had to head to court to fight a lawsuit from Members Advantage Credit Union over $200.
"It seems pretty petty to me," she said.
CBS 2 tried to hear the credit union's side of the story, but employees were not interested in talking.
So here is what happened, according to Clemons.
Someone she thought was from the credit union called to report strange activity on her account and verified debit card information with her.
Clemons: "The code on the back."
Victory: "They knew it."
Clemons: "They knew it."
Almost immediately, Clemons noticed a $202.61 charge go through to a Walgreens in Coconut Creek, Florida. It's clearly fraud she said, for two reasons.
"I've never even been in the state of Florida," she said.
Clemons added the credit union restricts her debit card usage to Indiana, Illinois and Michigan only, not Florida.
"I raised a big stink on the phone with them that day," Clemons said. "I said, 'I want it reversed and I want it reversed right now.'"
Members Advantage granted Clemons a temporary credit but later reversed it. Here's what the credit union told her to do if she wants a refund:
"It must be resolved directly with the merchant," she read.
Clemons added, "I've never heard of that before that you have to contact the vendor."
So in addition to cleaning jobs, Clemon's side gig is being a fraud investigator. She's filed a report with Coconut Creek police and Walgreens.
"Unfortunately, Walgreens does millions of transactions a day," she said.
Tracking down the scammer isn't going well, neither is the fight with the credit union that's now charging her for the temporary credit plus attorneys fees.
"It's $552 now so it is more than I would make in an entire week," Clemons said.
Victory: "Do you at all regret fighting them?"
Clemons: "No. Absolutely not."
She's defiant and definitely hoping this lawsuit doesn't clean her out.
Clemons' court date is in a few weeks. The attorney for Members Advantage Credit Union refused to comment on the case.
