A hacked Walmart account left this Florida woman $2,000 in the hole. Now she's accusing Walmart of reversing her refund

A hacked Walmart account left this Florida woman $2,000 in the hole. Now she's accusing Walmart of reversing her refund Laura Boast Thu, September 3, 2026 at 11:30 AM GMT+2 5 min read WMT Jeffrey Greenberg/Getty Images, WFTV News Florida resident Colleen German is looking for answers and compensation from Walmart after someone hacked her account and charged up $2,000 worth of groceries. "We don't have $2,000 just to fork out, you know?

" she told WFTV News . "This is a hardship for us. " Must Read Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake.

  Here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028. Here are 4 moves to make before the window closes German knew something was wrong when she got an email about two food orders totaling more than $2,000 on her account that were ready for pickup. Equally disturbing was the pickup location, which had changed from her local Walmart Supercenter in Titusville to a Walmart three hours away.

German said she called Walmart to alert them about the fraud in order to prevent the pickup and subsequent charges. Unfortunately, someone managed to pick up the orders 45 minutes later. Walmart then flagged the incident as fraud and advised German to talk to her credit card company to get a refund, which she did.

But as she explained to WFTV News, the credit reversal she received was itself reversed. German told the news outlet that she believed Walmart was responsible for cancelling the credit reversal and that the retailer had contacted her credit card company to inform it that the person who picked up the $2,000 order had the correct barcode information on their phone. "It's kind of frustrating to know that we've been a loyal customer to them and they won't help us," German told WFTV news.

Moneywise reached out to Walmart about the case and the company responded by sharing its advice to victims of fraud , including the importance of contacting the police. "We care about our customers, and we are committed to helping prevent fraud and working with law enforcement to hold bad actors accountable," a Walmart spokesperson shared in a statement with Moneywise. But German is still frustrated.

"I just really want my money back," she told WFTV. Who compensates victims of hacked Walmart accounts? Walmart's own webpage on account security is consistent with the advice that was given to German: Customers should contact their bank or credit card issuer to dispute fraudulent charges on their Walmart accounts.

"Your financial institution is always the best place to turn to recover those funds," the page reads. Story Continues Major credit card compnies protect victims of fraud with something called zero-liability protection . As long as victims report fraudulent charges immediately, they don't owe a cent.

The U. S. Fair Credit Billing Act gives consumers 60 days to dispute a wrongful charge on their credit cards and limits their liability to $50.

Read More: Vanguard reveals what's coming for U. S. stocks — and it could be bad news for this group of investors As German reported the fraud to her credit card company promptly, she owes nothing.

But what about her suspicion that Walmart cancelled a credit reversal (officially a payment reversal, also known as a chargeback) on her credit card statement? According to the chargeback and dispute management platform Chargeblast , the only way a chargeback (or payment reversal) can be reversed is if: The merchant themselves resolves things with the customer (which Walmart did not do), The cardholder cancels their complaint (which German did not do), or The credit card issuer or financial institution realizes an error and stops the process. Meanwhile, as German waits for her case to be resolved, hacked Walmart accounts continue to be a problem for the company and the account holders.

According to the digital security and identity theft protection company Aura, Walmart account takeover fraud spiked 427% in 2023 alone. Hackers are phishing for Walmart passwords via email and buying them on the dark web, potentially locking legitimate Walmart users out and charging things to their accounts. What Walmart shoppers can do to protect their account Aura says to watch out for red flags like not being able to log in to your Walmart account or, like German, getting a notification about an order that you never made, or seeing an unusual Walmart charge on your credit card statement.

Walmart's webpage on account security and unrecognized orders recommends that victims of account fraud do what German did: Contact Walmart, preferably via the 'chat with us' button, typing "unauthorized charges" into the window for immediate support. Walmart and Aura also advise that victims immediately: Inform local police and the Federal Trade Commission . Reset their password and delete online payment information (and change any similar passwords on other online accounts).

Contact their financial institution or credit card issuer. When asked about Walmart's own efforts to reduce account takeover fraud, the retailer had nothing further to add. What To Read Next Millionaires under 43 hold only 32% of their wealth in stocks.

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Subscribe now . This article originally appeared on Moneywise. com under the title: A hacked Walmart account left this Florida woman $2,000 in the hole.

Now she's accusing Walmart of reversing her refund This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.