Consumer complaint received 2022-04-21
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
This is in regards to Chase 's case number XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call whose number was XXXX, registered in my contacts as the phone number of Chase Bank Customer Service. The person on the line said he was a representative of Chase and told me that, due to suspicious activities, they were going to proceed to change my account number by closing my account and opening a new one. He said the process could take about a week because it was a large amount and that I would be receiving automated emails regarding the new bank account and transfers. They were going to call me again to begin the process. On the call back, the person claiming to be the representative asked me to confirm my identity by providing my zip code and date of birth. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, twice on the XXXX, and again on the XXXX, he called again to provide updates that the process was still underway. Every call appeared on my phone log as the Chase Bank Customer Service number. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw an email about a money transfer having been initiated on my account. While the supposed representative told me I would be receiving emails throughout, I decided to call Chase immediately to verify if this was legitimate and for an update on the new account. When I asked the Chase representative for an update on the new bank account she said there was no new bank account being closed or opened. The representative then asked if I had initiated a wire transfer as there was one pending. I let her know that I had not initiated nor authorized any funds transfer. That is when the representative explained to me that someone fraudulently withdrew funds from my account. I then asked for the wire transfer to be cancelled or stopped. She tried to transfer the call to the claims department, but the department was closed. She suggested I visit a local branch the next morning. On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I visited my local branch office in person and spoke to the branch manager. 

Upon reviewing the account, we discovered the fraudsters had withdrawn {$9500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, {$8800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and another {$9500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX by logging into my account online. Each transfer, which totaled to {$27000.00} appears on our statement to have been sent to an account in XXXX, Florida with XXXX Bank. At no point, on any of those dates, or on the calls with the scammers did I explicitly authorize any of these transfers. We were advised to file a police report and to provide a written statement of what occurred so that Chase can open an investigation. The Chase representative at this branch then closed our account and opened a new account where she transferred the remaining funds. I then asked how they can prevent this from happening again with the new account. The representative informed us that they would lock or restrict the mobile banking and online banking access to our account. 

Within the next few days, we filed a police report. We were informed by police that scammers have begun cloning phone numbers, which we were not made aware of by Chase. We then searched online and found many cases in which other unsuspecting Chase customers had their money wire transferred our after receiving phone calls from scammers who cloned their Customer Service number and were posing as Chase representatives. In these cases, we became aware that Chase would refuse to credit their customers until media, reporters and journalists got involved. 

We then returned to Chase with our written statement, documents supporting our case, and the police case number to submit to Chase so they can open the investigation. We were told the investigation could take 30 to 90 days. 

Almost two weeks later on XX/XX/XXXX, the new bank account was hacked and the fraudsters wire transferred {$22000.00} out of the new account. There was no communication with the fraudsters this time. Once again our online banking account was compromised after we were assured it would be locked. We returned to Chase, devastated that almost all of my life savings had been wiped out in a matter of weeks a total of {$49000.00}. We had to once again file a police report and a new written statement for Chase to initiate an investigation. At this point, we lost all of our trust in banking with Chase. We withdrew our remaining money as a cashier 's check but kept the account open pending the investigation. 

During the investigation, it became difficult to obtain updates from Chase Bank via the phone number we were provided and resorted to visiting the local branch at the height of the XXXX strain of the COVID-19 pandemic in XXXX, Florida. In XXXX, my daughter used social media to raise awareness to our situation and in hopes that we would get the attention of Chase Bank. Their social media team reached out to her and we were advised that a member of the Executive team would be in contact with us shortly. 

The Executive team member phoned me and assured us that he would help, he would be reviewing the case, and be providing updates throughout. The following week, I called to ask for an update and the Executive relayed that the investigation would take some time as he was new to the case. I decided to remain patient. 

In XXXX, I was then informed that I would be credited the {$22000.00} that was transferred out of my account as my request to deactivate my online banking account was not completed. The first investigation for the fraudulent wire transfers in XXXX, however, was still ongoing. The {$22000.00} was credited to my account on XX/XX/XXXX. 

In XXXX, we received a phone call and a subsequent letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, that the claim for {$27000.00} for the fraudulent wire transfers from XXXX were denied as we gave a third-party access to personal information. They claim to have no recovery rights for scam situations and that they did us a courtesy to try to recall the wire transfers. 

Under Chase 's own terms for privacy and security, ( https : //www.chase.comXXXX XXXX, it states " When you sign in for the first time or with a device we don't recognize, we'll ask you for your username, password and a temporary identification code, which we'll send you by phone, email or text message. Once you give us the identification code, we'll sign you securely into your accounts. '' We did not receive a request for the username, password, or identification code even though hackers were signing into our online banking on other devices. 

Also, under Chase 's own terms for privacy and security, it says, " We monitor your chase.com profile to help us detect fraud as early as possible. We might call you if we notice a change in your online activity ... '' It should have been suspicious for Chase that 3 wire transfers were initiated amounting to almost {$10000.00} each within a week when i never even initiate wire transfers. 

It also states, under Chase 's privacy and security, that they " use XXXX encryption technology to protect your username, password and other personal account information when you're using our site or apps. '' Their technology failed to safeguard my personal account information when hackers used their site or app to access my account. 

Under Chase 's Deposit Account Agreement from XXXX and XXXX, under section B2, regarding wire transfers, it states that for pending wire transfer transactions, that the transactions are applied updated once the wire transfer process has begun and an " all of our internal reviews '' are completed. It seems as though, they did not complete an internal review as they allowed 3 suspicious wire transfers, that should have been red-flagged due to my account profile 's past behaviors.

Under Chase 's Deposit Account Agreement from XXXX and XXXX, under section D2d, it states that Chase has the right to refuse transactions when a card has been lost or stolen or when they reasonably believe there may be fraudulent, suspicious or illegal activity. Not only should it have the 3 fraudulent wire transfers been flagged based off of our past account activity, but once we called and spoke to an actual Chase representative and we informed the wire transfer activities on our account in XXXX were fraudulent, then Chase should have refused the transaction as we explicitly stated we did not initiate them. 

We are asking that Chase Bank credit the remaining {$27000.00} that was fraudulently transferred out of our account through no fault of our own as it was Chase 's responsibility to safeguard and protect our hard-earned money and their mobile apps, online banking platform, customer accounts and customer service number from scammers. We are in contact with journalists and will reach out to Florida 's Attorney General for assistance as well.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation