COPLEY, Ohio — A veteran who fought for our country in the Gulf War found himself in another battle after becoming the victim of credit card fraud and identity theft.

Someone racked up over $20,000 in fees in a foreign country on Robert Smith’s credit card. For more than a month, the 54-year-old Copley vet fought to overturn the unauthorized charges. That changed after News 5 got involved.

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

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

During that time, he faced tragedy as part of a Navy team that responded to the USS Iwo Jima after that ship experienced a steam leak, killing 10 sailors.

“I had to go down to that factory to shut it down and make sure, and there were dead bodies. That really affected my life,” he said. “I dedicated my career to those veterans who died.”

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

Last month, Smith said he was ripped off when five separate charges totaling $20,005.18 appeared on his American Express Navy Federal Credit Union credit card.

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

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

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

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

While Smith made several calls to request a chargeback, Navy Federal Credit Union initially refused.

The credit union sent a message to Smith last week. It read, in part, “We regret that our investigation did not yield a more favorable outcome. This matter is closed.”

Copley Detective Mike Yovanno said he spoke with someone from the credit union’s fraud department to ask if there was anything more the police department could do to provide information that would help with a refund.

Yovanno said he was surprised when the fraud department claimed there was evidence to suggest Smith authorized or benefited from the transactions.

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

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

Smith said he received another email about an hour and a half later indicating the charges were eventually reversed.

The email says: “We took another look at the account and are pleased to inform you that your More Reward American Express request has been accepted and we have honored your request. A provisional credit of $20,005.18 was issued and is now permanent”.

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

“It’s because of what News 5 did, after you contacted them,” he added.

In a statement to News 5, Chip Kohlweiler, SVP of Security at Navy Federal Credit Union, said:

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 someone you haven’t called personally,” Weckerly Lambert said.

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

“What I would recommend is that you definitely want to go over these protections with the institutions and the account managers just to make sure you know ahead of time what you’re going to have to do.”

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