HEDDEN v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 29, 2024
Docket2:24-cv-03254
StatusUnknown

This text of HEDDEN v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION (HEDDEN v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
HEDDEN v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, (E.D. Pa. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

ADRIANA HEDDEN, CIVIL ACTION Plaintiff, NO. 24-3254

v.

NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION; and JOHN DOE, Defendants.

Baylson, J. October 29, 2024 MEMORANDUM RE: MOTION TO DISMISS Hedden seeks a declaration on the invalidity of a fraudulent loan made in her name, which her bank, Defendant Navy Federal Credit Union (“Navy Federal”), considers overdue, and subsequent damages. Navy Federal is holding Hedden responsible for repayment of the fraudulent loan because Hedden fell victim to a scammer—purporting to be a Navy Federal employee—to whom she transferred the loan proceeds in an attempt to facilitate resolution of the fraud. While characterizing Hedden’s situation as “unfortunate” and “regrettable,” Navy Federal insists that Hedden’s “true claim lies against the scammer, not Navy Federal.” ECF 9-1 at 1. But Hedden’s Amended Complaint paints a picture of misbehavior beyond only that of the scammer. Navy Federal cannot push the blame entirely to the scammer. For the reasons stated below, Navy Federal’s motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS Plaintiff Adriana Hedden (“Hedden”) has been a banking customer of Navy Federal for about 13 years. Am. Compl. ¶ 6, ECF 6. A. The Scam: Hedden’s March 24, 2024 Interactions With John Doe, A Purported Navy Federal Representative 1. Doe, A Purported Navy Federal Representative, Contacts Hedden On March 24, 2024, Hedden received a text message from 858-666-1787 that read: “NFC – Did you attempt a Zelle transfer for the amount of $500.00 at 4:39 PM on 3/29/24. Please Text YES/NO To verify transaction or text STOP to opt out. Text HELP for help. For Security purposes a call will be sent out to verify this transaction.” Id. ¶ 13. Five minutes later, Hedden received a call that appeared to come from Navy Federal’s customer service number. Id. ¶ 14. Hedden answered the call and John Doe (“Doe”) introduced himself as a Navy Federal representative who was investigating a fraudulent loan (the “Loan”) taken out in Hedden’s name. Id. ¶ 15. Hedden had not applied for or authorized the Loan. Id. ¶ 25. Nonetheless, Hedden’s

account showed a deposit for $4,960 in Loan proceeds. Id. ¶ 24. Doe told Hedden that the Loan proceeds were deposited in her account through a third-party called “Cash App” and that someone had attempted to transfer the proceeds from her account to an unknown user. Id. ¶¶ 15–16. During the call, Doe told Hedden that her Navy Federal mobile application (“App”) password was changed due to security protocols and provided her with a new password. Id. ¶¶ 17–19; Ex. E, ECF 6-5. Although Hedden had not changed her password, nor had she received a notification from Navy Federal regarding suspicious account activity. Am. Compl. ¶ 19. Hedden entered the password that Doe gave her and logged in to her account. Doe then told Hedden that he needed to send her two “push” notifications to her iPhone through the Navy Federal App to verify her IP location and to complete the “fraud investigation.” Id. ¶ 21; see Ex. F, ECF 6-6. Doe sent the push notifications.1 Am. Compl. ¶ 22. Hedden challenged Doe to verify that he worked for Navy Federal. Id. ¶ 23. Doe told Hedden the amounts and dates of transactions and deposits in her account. Id. Hedden also

visually confirmed that her Navy Federal account showed a deposit for $4,960 and thus believed Doe’s purported identity.2 Id. ¶ 24. 2. Doe Provides Hedden With Instructions To Purportedly Facilitate Return Of The Loan, And Disappears After The Funds Are Transferred Doe told Hedden that Cash App requested that she return the Loan proceeds via Apple Pay to a Chime card. Id. ¶ 27. Though Hedden questioned the necessity of this method of transfer, Doe assured Hedden that the transfer would allow Cash App to confirm that the Loan was fraudulent and resolve the dispute. Id. ¶ 28. Doe provided Hedden with instructions on how to transfer the proceeds to a Chime card. Id. ¶ 29. Guided by Doe’s direction, Hedden did so. Id. ¶ 30. Doe then put Hedden on hold indefinitely, and the call eventually ended. Id. ¶ 31. B. The Aftermath: Hedden’s Post-Scam Communications 1. Following Her Phone Call With Doe, Hedden Calls Navy Federal After her call with Doe, Hedden called the Navy Federal customer service number from which Doe had seemingly called her. Id. ¶ 32. Hedden spoke to an actual Navy Federal Representative (the “Representative”). Id. ¶ 33. Navy Federal had no record of Hedden and Doe’s conversation; the Representative informed Hedden that she was scammed. Id. ¶¶ 33–34.

1 Doe was able to do so because either he breached Navy Federal’s information technology (“IT”) system or was an authorized user of the IT system who was illegitimately using it. Am. Compl. ¶ 26. 2 The loan proceeds were in Hedden’s account when she was on the phone with Doe. Id. ¶ 24. The Representative examined the devices logged in to Hedden’s App. Id. ¶ 35. The device record showed that an unknown and unauthorized Samsung device, which did not belong to Hedden, was logged into her account. Id. ¶¶ 35–36. The Representative removed the device, reset Hedden’s App login, and provided Hedden with new banking account numbers. Id. ¶ 37.

2. Hedden Instructs Navy Federal To Stop The Transfer, But It Does Not The Loan disbursement to Hedden’s account and transfer of proceeds to the Chime card were still pending, which meant Navy Federal could have contacted Chime and Apple Pay to stop the transfers. Id. ¶¶ 38–39; see Ex. G, ECF 6-7. Hedden requested that Navy Federal stop the transfer of funds. Am. Compl. ¶ 41. Navy Federal failed to do so. Id. ¶ 42. Navy Federal provided Hedden with a Declaration of Forgery/Fraud, and instructed her to complete the Declaration and return it to Navy Federal by mail. Id. ¶ 43. Hedden did so. Id. ¶ 44. 3. Navy Federal Denies Hedden’s Fraud Claim On April 29, 2024, Navy Federal notified Hedden that her fraud claim was denied. Id. ¶ 48. Navy Federal sent Hedden the Loan promissory note (the “Note”). Id. ¶ 49. This was the first time Hedden saw the Note, which contained a log of the actions Doe took while posing as Hedden. Id. ¶¶ 49–50. According to the log, the Note was e-signed by an IP addressed in Hammonton, NJ.3

Id. ¶¶ 51–52. When the Note was signed, Hedden was in Bensalem, PA, from which she normally logged into her Navy Federal account—not in Hammonton, NJ.4 Id. ¶¶ 53–55.

3 Navy Federal “authenticated” and approved the loan application made in Hedden’s name after only 16 seconds. Id. ¶ 56. 4 Navy Federal did not create automatic security alerts or implement an account hold based on the unusual location of the activity on Hedden’s account. Id. ¶¶ 58–60. Hedden repeatedly sought information from Navy Federal about its investigation. Id. ¶¶ 64, 67. Navy Federal told her that the information was “limited” and declined to provide contact information for the legal department. Id. ¶¶ 65, 67. Navy Federal has sent Hedden bills demanding full repayment of the Loan and considers

Hedden overdue on payments for the Loan. Id. ¶¶ 71, 73. Navy Federal deduced an auto-payment in the amount of the Loan from Hedden’s account. Id. ¶ 72. This auto-payment has since been reversed. Id. ¶ 73. II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY Hedden filed this case against Navy Federal and John Doe in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County. ECF 1-1. On July 23, 2024, Defendants removed the case to the United States Courts of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ECF 2-2; ECF 2-3. On August 13, 2024, Hedden filed an Amended Complaint seeking declaratory judgment (Count I) and alleging breach of contract as to Navy Federal (Count II), negligence as to Navy Federal in the alternative (Count IV), fraud as to Navy Federal in the alternative (Count VI), fraud as to John Doe (Count V), aiding

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HEDDEN v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hedden-v-navy-federal-credit-union-paed-2024.