Consumer complaint received 2023-08-14
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: IL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I was the victim of check fraud on XX/XX/23. I reported the fraudulent activity that day, started a claim with Chase 's fraud unit, and froze the account. I also went to a local bank branch in Michigan, where I was at the time, and made an appointment to see a banker in the morning to transfer our funds out of the frozen account to a new one. I was informed of the need to file a police report and XXXX fraud statement, after which it would take 3-5 business days to complete the investigation process and return our lost funds, which totalled {$20000.00} + a {$9.00} fee for ordering the fraudulent checks. Upon returning home on XX/XX/XXXX, I filed the police report and brought it to my local branch in XXXX and filled out the XXXX  form in the presence and at the direction of a banker. They faxed the documents to the fraud department and told me I would be notified when the investigation was complete. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX to check the progress of the claim. I was told nothing substantive, except that the investigation should be complete in another day or XXXX. 

I called back again on XX/XX/XXXX, and was again told nothing of substance except for an assurance the money would be returned in the next few days. I called in another XXXX times on XX/XX/XXXX, and was now told that it could take up to an additional XXXX business days before my money would be returned, again with no actual information as to the reason for the delay. 

After another XXXX days without any update, I called again on XX/XX/XXXX, and this time was told that the claim had been resolved earlier in the week. This was a shock, as I had received no notification or communication on the matter, nor was there any message or indication in my online banking account portal referencing the investigation in any way. And of course, the {$20000.00} was still missing from my account. After lengthy discussions with the fraud line operator and a supervisor, I was told that the issue was that the investigation was only flagged to the old checking account - the one that was frozen and closed - and that some of the fraudulent activity was transferred over to the newly opened account and was affecting the balance there. This despite the fact that the account did not exist when the fraudulent transactions took place, and was only opened at Chase 's instruction when they started the fraud claim, apparently confusing themselves in the process about what they were even investigating. I was further told that the only thing anyone could do was to reopen the claim with the new account numbers added to essentially start the process over, and that the money would be returned in ( once again ) 3-5 business days. 

The following Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I once again called in to confirm that the investigation process was actually underway, and was informed that it in fact had not been started, despite repeated assurances the Friday before from the supervisor that it was and that he had made notes to expedite it however possible. The operator said that the new investigation required the police report, but were able to find it after I explained that it had been submitted weeks earlier. They still said that I would need to submit a new XXXX claim, however. 

Later that day, I visited my local branch to submit the new form and was told I could not see a banker until Wednesday the XXXX. After I insisted to see someone that day, I was sent to another branch where I was able to sit down with a different banker. She had me call the fraud line again in her presence. This time, the new operator said that actually, they did not need a new XXXX  claim but did need the police report to be resubmitted, the opposite of what I had been told on the earlier call. I had all the paperwork with me anyway, so the new banker faxed it in again and I was told that it would take until the following day to be accepted, and then 5-7 business days to process the claim. Quite irate, I demanded to know why I was being told different things every time I called in, why I was not notified of either the earlier claim be marked resolved or of the need for additional documents that was holding up the new claim, which I only learned by repeatedly calling in and showing up at branches and demanding updates. I was told that, despite having been told that I could receive phone updates earlier, there would be no telephonic or digital communications about the claim ( XXXX ), and the updates would only be sent via physical mail. As of XXXX  days after the fraud claim was initiated, I have received no such updates or information of any kind in the mail. I told them that using the slowest possible communication method would only serve to delay further a process that had already taken XXXX longer than I was promised and only seemed to be further away from actual resolution than where it began, and asked for overnight mail if they would not use digital or phone communications. 

I am now nearing a month without having been reimbursed for the money stolen from my account. I have followed every direction from Chase 's fraud department, which I have been forced to initiate interactions with on a dozen different occasions in order to receive any information on why the money is still missing, and what little information I have received is contradictory, unhelpful and completely unreliable. Chase 's representatives consistently plead powerlessness and ignorance in the face of their own internal operating systems, and are unwilling or unable to provide any proactive information about the theft, what they are doing about it or what is needed from me in order to keep things moving. I believe Chase should be held liable for failure to protect my funds and its obstruction and lack of communication and transparency as to the investigation into that failure.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation