Gulf War veteran scammed out of $20,000, forced to fight for repayment

COPLEY, Ohio — A Gulf War veteran who fought for our country found himself in another fight after falling victim to credit card fraud and identity theft.

Someone spent more than $20,000 on Robert Smith’s credit card in a foreign country. The 54-year-old veterinarian from Copley tried for more than a month to have the unauthorized charges thrown out. That changed when News 5 came into play.

Smith proudly served in the U.S. Navy during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

“I was a boiler technician in the Navy,” Smith said. “We were on the front lines of the Gulf War.”

During this time, he dealt with tragedy as part of the Navy team that responded when the USS Iwo Jima suffered a steam leak, killing 10 sailors.

“I had to go down to shut down that factory and make sure, there were bodies there. It really affected my life,” he said. “I dedicated my career to fallen veterans.”

Smith suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to this incident. He said he is considered a disabled veteran due to post-traumatic stress disorder and congestive heart failure.

Last month, Smith said she was exploited when five separate charges totaling $20,005.18 appeared on her Navy Federal Credit Union American Express credit card.

He told News 5 the incident happened after someone posing as a credit union employee convinced Smith to enter a code into his phone.

According to the Copley police report, the scammer told Smith not to access his account for 24 hours. Smith isn’t sure how this happened, but he believes his personal information stored on his phone was unlocked during the call, allowing the fraudster to access his credit card number.

All payments were made at a UPS store in Istanbul, Turkey.

“I’ve only been to a UPS store in Copley to ship things. I’ve never been to Turkey,” Smith said.

While Smith made multiple calls to request that the charges be dropped, Navy Federal Credit Union initially refused.

The credit union texted Smith last week. It read in part: “We regret that our investigation did not yield a more positive outcome. This matter is closed.”

Copley Detective Mike Yovanno said he spoke with someone from the credit union fraud department and asked if there was anything else the police department could do to provide information to assist with the refund.

Yovanno said he was surprised that the fraud department claimed there was evidence showing Smith authorized or benefited from the transactions.

“We had no reason to believe that Smith was anything other than an identity theft victim,” Yovanno said.

Wednesday morning, News 5 emailed the Navy Federal Credit Union communications department asking for a statement and if there was anything that could be done to help the veteran.

Smith said he received another email about an hour and a half later saying the charges had finally been withdrawn.

The email reads: “We have reviewed the account and are pleased to inform you that your request for More Rewards American Express has been accepted and we have honored your request. A temporary credit of $20,005.18 was issued and is now permanent.”

Smith said he was happy and relieved that “the right thing was finally done.”

“This is because of what News 5 did after you contacted them,” he added.

Navy Federal Credit Union Senior Vice President of Security Chip Kohlweiler said in a statement to News 5:

Deven Weckerly Lamber of the Akron Better Business Bureau said people should be careful when answering calls from unknown numbers.

“You always want to avoid giving information to people you haven’t called personally,” Weckerly Lambert said.

If you think you’ve been scammed, he said, monitor your accounts, file a police report and contact your bank or credit union.

“My recommendation is that you definitely want to read these protections with your institutions and account managers to make sure you know exactly what you need to do up front.”

Weckerly Lambert also suggested visiting the BBB’s website to learn more about its scam tracker and scam recovery guide.