Consumer complaint received 2023-08-08
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: CO
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I am filing this complaint because I still have not received funds back that were disputed with BOTH PNC Bank and XXXX which totalled {$26000.00}. I have notified both companies in a timely fashion, have initiated disputes through proper channels with both companies ( to the effect that they would allow it, please refer to the information below about XXXX preventing me from completing disputes in a reasonable manner ), and finally have submitted my disputes to both companies in writing ( these letters I have enclosed with this complaint ). While PNC Bank has corrected the unauthorized debit card transactions, they have failed to correct the XXXX transactions. Perhaps because they are expecting XXXX to act, which to this date, they have failed to even respond to my complaints. 

These XXXX transfers from my PNC Bank account I did not authorize from the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX until the end of XX/XX/XXXX, with a total of {$26000.00}. A detailed record of these transactions directly from PNC Bank statements is enclosed. 

My account information was never voluntarily shared with anyone and the use of my device was not voluntarily given to anyone. These transactions are in error because they were not authorized transactions. 

To the best of my knowledge, the fraudulent activity was made possible by and began after completing a device swap of my cell phone with an identical phone under my phone warranty program. At one point, these devices had all account details stored and I suspect some fraudulent interception transpired. I cant say for sure, and I have no way to prove who I think did it - but the bottom line is that these transactions were not done by me or authorized by me. 

In XXXX of XXXX I was forced to close my two retail stores at the onset of COVID by the town in which my original store had thrived for XXXX years. XXXX month later, despite the fact that I complied with their directive to close up shop, the town punished me with a one-year revocation of my business license for staying open. Another month passed and out of nowhere, my commercial landlord conducted an unlawful eviction of my business from the property. To this day we are still in litigation. Like many people, I lost my source of income, but in my particular case that was just the beginning of the end for me, my family, my legacy, and even just the basic dignity of human expression and American freedom. Its beyond words how it feels to go from $ XXXX in sales per month to being forcibly stripped of your lifes work and in less than a year find yourself homeless. Part of coping with all of that is I got to a point where I became accustomed to having nothing and fell out of the habit of staying on top of stuff. 

So when I received a large settlement from when I was hit by a car, I just deposited it all into my PNC account and didnt think much of it nor monitor it in any way that would alert me to the initial fraud that affected my bank account. I brought it to PNC Banks attention immediately when I did notice it, and I was given the impression by PNC Bank that they quickly investigated the matter and returned the stolen funds. I thought that put an end to the misuse of my money through my account. 

Because a new card was issued by PNC, my old one was canceled, I was assured by PNC Bank that they had thoroughly addressed the problem, and reopening my business was still months away ; it seemed like it was safe to just let my settlement money sit and continue living frugally. Within weeks, however, my PNC bank account was suddenly emptied of more than {$35000.00}, evidently through XXXX transfers transpiring after I thought the situation was resolved. 

Before reaching out to XXXX or PNC Bank, I sought out a solution with the merchants that processed the unreasonable volume of transactions but they would not refund the money. I then notified XXXX support directly and tried to initiate disputes but XXXX support refused to process the disputes unless I completed several steps ( XXXX ) for each transaction ( XXXX ) individually- which was cumbersome and unreasonable ( XXXX total actions, XXXX per transaction = XXXX hours ). 

I repeatedly asked for alternative ways to report the fraud through the XXXX system, a phone call, or even the postal service and I was unequivocally told by XXXX support that their dispute process of each transaction, one at a time in the app was the only way to notify them of the fraud and dispute the transactions. Obviously, this wasnt true. 

I believe the additional transactions related to XXXX have been improperly denied by PNCBank. Neither company has provided a provisional credit nor communicated to me that I needed to submit anything in writing regarding these XXXX transactions. 

From what I understand, PNC Bank and XXXX got together and have decided that the transactions were valid based on prior account activity. The possibility of similar prior transactions with the same or similar merchants does not constitute proof that these transactions were authorized - especially when said prior activity consists entirely of transactions PNC had already concluded were fraudulent in the original partial investigation of the first set of unauthorized transactions. If you look at my account history before the settlement, my spending habits were not at all reflective of what transpired during the period these transactions took place. Upon request, I can also provide the 5 years of business and personal accounts I maintained before I lost everything to COVID which will further prove my point. 

There appears to be a range of various violations by PNC Bank and XXXX of the The Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( EFTA ) and Regulation E after I had given both XXXX and PNC Bank timely notice of the fraud. PNC Bank seems to have taken XXXX stance about these transactions, while XXXX appears to have closed my XXXX account as some type of retaliation for getting PNC Bank involved. For these reasons, I am submitting my complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation