Consumer complaint received 2022-09-26
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: OR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
I received my direct deposit for my paycheck on XX/XX/XXXX and transferred cash over to my " XXXX XXXX '' account in order to pay bills and make some purchases. I do this because a credit card is supposed to have more protections. You have to transfer cash or " prepay '' over the credit builder in order to use it- like a prepaid credit card. 

I paid some bills, bought a couple things and then went to bed. I wake up at XXXX XXXX to see charge for " XXXX  '' for {$450.00}. There was a " rejection '' of the charge email in my inbox as well. I canceled the card immediately by XXXX XXXX and then I clicked the " dispute '' for the transaction and submitted it with documentation. 

The thief/criminaXXXX also tried to charge {$450.00} a second time, then they tried {$220.00}, and then {$190.00}. The initial {$450.00} was the only one that cleared. A fraud alert was triggered and sent to me, but the {$450.00} was still cleared by my bank! I called Chime on Saturday to follow up with the report and spent 52 min 42 sec on the phone either on hold or being transferred around to different people and being read the same paragraph. They told me " the transaction must first clear '' before they can take any action. I called two more times for another 2+ hrs. in total and spoke with a " manager '' at one point that just kept repeating the same thing pre-written FAQ paragraphs from the website. 

They could do nothing until the charge cleared. I saw that the charge cleared on Sunday XX/XX/XXXX so I called them. They could do nothing. I called XXXX. I had made an XXXX account, but I hadn't accessed it since XX/XX/XXXX. I had no transactions and I had never uploaded a " payment method ''. I have the proof. I uploaded it to my dispute. XXXX could do nothing about the payment because credit card was used under someone else that they could give me access to. 

I received an email at XXXX am today XX/XX/XXXX saying " we've completed our investigation of your billing inquiry, and we've determined that no billing error occurred ''. Billing error!? I reported this as Credit Card Fraud! This is the first time I have ever reported fraud or made a " dispute '' for Chime. 

I will continue to make reports and try to get this money back that was stolen from me, but I now want Chime to be investigated and others to be safe from what I am having to deal with. {$450.00} of cash is huge for my family and I. 

Fraudulent Transaction : -Date of transaction : XX/XX/XXXX -Amount : {$450.00} XXXXDescription of Charge on the Account : XXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX by Chime : repeated phrases saying they " can do nothing ''. They did next to nothing. They said the fraud was legitimate. 

-Actions by Me : canceled my card immediately, filed dispute, uploaded proof, multiple calls to Chime XXXX hours of research, calls to XXXX to try to get them to cancel/reverse/flag as fraud/etc., documentation. This is my first experience reporting a fraudulent charge to Chime. I don't think I will be banking with them from here on out.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation