Consumer complaint received 2019-11-02
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I have been a victim of a scam artist. 
Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/2019, I was trying to make a transaction with an individual who called himself XXXX XXXX XXXX and posted an ad about selling XXXX XXXX stereo amplifier on XXXX website. Seller and I agreed on the sale price of {$3300.00} including shipping from XXXX XXXX, CA to my home in XXXX, TX. I would pay {$2000.00} in advance so the seller shipped the merchandise. The remaining {$1300.00} I was to pay after I received the merchandise and checked it all out. We communicated over emails and the seller was able to answer very specific technical questions about the merchandise. He seemed to have a genuine reason for selling the amplifier. 
The seller claimed he did not have a XXXX account and insisted on a wire transfer. To assure me, he sent me a copy of " his '' driver 's license, his contact phone number ( XXXX XXXX ) and bank account information. The bank account was in his wife 's name ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and used the same address as on his driver 's license so I attempted to wire the money. The wire did not go through for some reason. I tried to troubleshoot the situation with the seller and with the bank but the seller was still unable to received the funds. Later, I tried to wire the money again 2 times unsuccessfully and, after that, 2 more times to an XXXX XXXX debit card account and to XXXX XXXX ( " his son 's '' ) business account called XXXX XXXX XXXX. The seller explained his son was adopted and kept his original family name. 
Neither wire went through so, finally, after 1 month of trying to complete the transaction, I was about to give up on this purchase. The seller eventually offered to wire the money to XXXX XXXX 's Chase Bank account on XXXX XXXX and that transaction did go through. The sequence of events is provided below. 
XX/XX/2019 : I wired money from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) checking account to a XXXX XXXX 's Chase Bank account ( XXXX ) in the amount of {$2000.00}. The XXXX wire sequence number was XXXX. This money was the advance payment for XXXX XXXX stereo amplifier. 
XX/XX/2019 : XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmed he'd received {$2000.00} on his account. The funds were credited under REF XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : I waited for XXXX XXXX XXXX to ship the merchandise, but he kept delaying the shipment for one reason or another. 
XX/XX/2019 : The seller blocked my number ( verified with XXXX XXXX XXXX ) so was unable to text/call him. I notified him about that in an email and he responded quickly with an explanation about a family emergency and a promise to ship the merchandise in a few days. 
XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/2019 : The seller still did not ship the merchandise. 
XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/2019 : At that time, his ad on XXXX had still been active. After sending him an enquiry from another email account about his merchandise ( pretending as though I was another interested buyer ) and receiving a response from him, I realized he was trying to sell the amplifier to other people at the same time using the same scam scheme but using different sons name and bank account. 
XX/XX/2019 : As soon as I received a response from the seller to my imitated purchase enquiry, I reported the ad and the seller as potential scam on XXXX and made a post on the Forum there. 
XX/XX/2019 : After unsuccessful attempts to make the seller ship the merchandise, I requested a full refund via email. He responded with a promise to make the refund the next day. 
When I challenged him about him being a scam artist, he stopped responding to my emails. I tried to call him from different phone numbers, but he blocked each one of them. I have not received any response from the seller since XX/XX/2019. 
XX/XX/2019 : I filed a claim about the fraud with XXXX. 
XX/XX/2019 : I file a police report with XXXX Police ( Financial Crimes Division ph : XXXX XXXX ) for forgery/fraud. The case number is XXXX. The case was opened by officer XXXX   XXXX. 
XX/XX/2019 : Contacted the real XXXX XXXX XXXX on the phone ( XXXX XXXX ) and informed his hed been a victim of identity theft. 
XX/XX/2019 : I received a negative response from XXXX who relayed the response from Chase Bank that they had been unable to contact the beneficiary. If this person can not be contacted they will not be able to return the funds. We are contacting the credited party to confirm credit to the beneficiary. We will reply at due course. No Indemnity to be counted. Regards XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation