Consumer complaint received 2021-10-25
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX - My general contractor discovers that his email had been hacked and our latest payment for a home remodel was sent to a fraudulent bank account ( at XXXX XXXX ). I file a wire transfer fraud claim via secure message, as directed by Chase 's phone customer service. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I receive a secure message from Chase stating, " We have attempted to contact XXXX on several occasions, but have not received a response. At this time, we can not take any further action on this inquiry and suggest that you contact them directly in order to resolve the matter. '' -- Please note, the XXXX is XXXX XXXX. I find it implausible that Chase is completely unable to contact XXXX XXXX... 

At some point I did try calling XXXX XXXX directly, as suggested by Chase, but XXXX XXXX was quite firm that all communications with them needed to go through Chase via the XXXX messaging system to have any effect. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I receive notification from my general contractor that another of their clients who fell prey to the same wire transfer scam, was able to get a refund from XXXX XXXX via their own bank ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Thus I go to my local Chase branch to continue pursuing the wire transfer claim. The banker makes some calls on my behalf but is unable to get any actionable information. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Out of the blue I receive a secure message from Chase saying : " URGENT PLS BE ADVISED WE CAN'T COMPLY WITH YR REQUEST UNTIL WE RECEIVE AN INDEMNITY/HOLD HARMLESS FROM YOURSELVES FOR REMAINING FUNDS BY XXXX. PLEASE SEND A HOLD HARMLESS INDEMNITY LETTER TO XXXX ( AT ) WELLSFARGO.COM FAX XXXX NOTIFY US IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECALL FUNDS AND CLOSE YOUR CASE. UNTIL THEN, WE CLOSE OUR FILE AS NOTED IN FIELD 20 ABOVE. REGARDS, WIRE INVESTIGATIONS PLS PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DETAILS TO ATTN [ redacted case # ] '' I send some paperwork to the XXXX XXXX email address, as apparently instructed by this message, which is not accompanied by any additional instructions from Chase. As the XX/XX/XXXX deadline approaches, I haven't heard anything from either XXXX XXXX or Chase, so I call XXXX XXXX directly using the XXXX claims number in the message. XXXX XXXX tells me that all communications regarding the wire recall process must go through Chase, and that Chase is the one who needs to send the hold harmless indemnity letter to them ; I can not do it directly. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I spend several hours on the phone with Chase, then rush to a local branch office that afternoon. The banker again calls Chase customer service on my behalf, but all they manage to do is have Wire Investigations " begin '' the process of producing a hold harmless indemnity letter, which Chase claims will take 45-90 days from XX/XX/XXXX. 

I see a few incongruities here : 1 ) Chase should have been producing a hold harmless indemnity letter as soon as they received the communication from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. But their own records state that they never started working on my case until XX/XX/XXXX when I pressed them to follow up. What were they doing between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, or even -- in the most generous interpretation -- between XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX? 

2 ) Has Chase communicated the 90-day timeline delay to XXXX XXXX who originally requested a 2-week turnaround? I have asked this question to multiple customer service representatives and they are unable to confirm that this simple communication has been executed. Thus I'm left concerned that XXXX XXXX will close the case on their side due to inactivity ( directly caused by Chase dragging their feet ). 

3 ) It is apparently impossible to speak on the phone with the Wire Investigations team at Chase. They do not accept phone calls transferred from general customer service representatives. Their secure messages are opaque and lacking important contextual information ( e.g. forwarding me a XXXX message from XXXX XXXX which they, not I, are supposed to act on ). Their secure messages include a phone number to call but that phone number auto-hangs up with a redirect back to secure messages ; or else they direct me to my local branch, who can not do anything other than call the same generic customer service number on my behalf and is confused about why I have been directed to the branch. 

I have now waited 88 days from the original date of filing a fraud claim, and I'm being instructed to wait an additional 80 days without any assurance that the receiving bank has been made aware of the processing delay that Chase requires.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation