Consumer complaint received 2023-10-19
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Bounced checks or returned payments

Complaint:
So between the dates of XXXX XXXX XXXX through XXXX XXXX XXXX  I have been in communication with the Fraud department and main customer service line Truist Bank of XXXX XXXX XXXX During this time, I had been communicating with a guy by the name of XXXX, who had presented himself as a Loan Brooker for XXXX XXXX XXXX. Upon answering my phone there was a lady by the name of XXXX XXXX who had told me that I had been approved for a loan in the amount of XXXX with an installment for XXXX months for XXXX a month. That all I had to do was present this loan approval code (XXXX) to their loan coordinator and she asked me if it was OK if she transferred me and I told her Id be fine. Upon transferring me a Mail picked up the phone with the foreign accent, and told me that he was the coordinator, and that he was going to gather some more information about me and he went by the name of XXXX He congratulated me for being approved for the XXXX loan and then I told him well you always kind of looking for XXXX XXXXoan. He began to tell me that he could see about raising my loan after he gathered my information. So he asked for my full name what state I was living in he asked me what my employment status was if I was single or married. He asked me if I had any kids he had asked me if I was getting paid weekly biweekly and when would it be my next pay day he asked me what my net gross was before taxes he asked me my date of birth, I believe he asked me for my Social Security, and Im not sure. So after he gets all that information From me, he goes on to tell me that I could change my XXXX loan at XXXX a month for an installment for XXXX months to a XXXX loan for XXXX a month and installments of XXXX months and I asked him if I could go ahead and get the XXXX he said absolutely. so after that, he asked me for my banking information he first asked me for my account number and my routing number which I thought this immediately was normal for a particular situation like this. He then went on to ask me if I do my banking online. And I told him yes I did. He asked me who was I banking with, and I told him Truist. So, as the Phone conversation goes on, and hes got all of my information. He tells me that theres one last thing we have to do before I can receive this loan, and he can only do it with my permission. He kept telling me that he was on a recorded line. he asked me if it would be OK for him to deposit a verification deposit into my account in order to verify that my account is in good standing and also to ensure that the bank will receive their funds for my loan. And I told him this would be fine. Ive heard the verification deposit before, but Ive never really went through it so that didnt seem fishy to me.. he asked me for my username and my password for my banking account, and I subsequently gave him this information because I was so convinced and so excited about this Loan and that this was just part of the process of receiving. During the phone conversation with XXXX, he told me that he was going to deposit any sort of money through my online banking portal. I did, however give him permission to deposit money into my account, but I have money deposited into my account in various ways on the regular, I had no idea that I give him access to my online banking and that he was depositing these checks under my name fictitiously and presenting them as if it were me. So around XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  my account for Truist received it deposit of XXXX. This money immediately posted the following and after communication with XXXX he had reminded me that this is not my loan money. It is simply a verification deposit And that the sooner  I sent him( XXXX his money back thru XXXX XXXX the sooner I would be able to receive my XXXX loan. So following morning XXXX XXXX XXXX I checked my account and the money had indeed cleared. I called XXXX and let him know that the money is cleared and hes ready for me to send the money to him. Let me know around XXXX XXXX during my workday I received a call from XXXX and he was telling me that he was going to send me some cash tag in order for me to return his money and so I said OK, thats fine. Gave me multiple cash tags in which none of them worked. However two of them had told me that they went through but the money was immediately returned because it was reported as a scam or fraudulent, Im on the phone with XXXX the entire time sending him screenshots of whats going on on my end of the phone. So after none of the cash tags work by sending cash app, he asked me to do bitcoin with the same cash tags and again none of those went through either. Im at work, so Im kind of frustrated. I need both of my hands in order to work and I tell this to XXXX, I said hey, I understand your money and I want to get it back to you as soon as possible and then I also understand that I wont receive my loan unless I do. Is there any other way that we can do this or you could just wait till I got out of work . Told me that there was another way for me to get his money back to him. I would have to go and buy gift cards in order to replace the money that I had to purchase two XXXX cards valued at XXXX apiece and sent him the card information. That way he can transmit these cards into  cash and approve my verification deposit return.. so I talked to my boss XXXX as mentioned I was at work and I tell him whats going on. Hes very understanding person. He told me that would be fine that I went to the store to pick up these gift cards for this guy and also if I needed a ride, he would provide one for me. So my boss man and I are headed to XXXX XXXX  on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, North Carolina. I text XXXX and tell him that Im headed to the store to get the gift cards. He told me not to get the XXXX cards to get the XXXX gift cards to XXXX at first I didnt think they were there so I text XXXX and told him that Im not seeing the XXXX gift cards. I sent him snapshots of all the gift cards in case there was another one that he could use. Ill look again and I see that I can gift cards so Ill grab two take them up to the cash register use my XXXX XXXX card in which I transferred the money from my account and wire transferred it to my XXXX XXXX account. Lady asked how much do I want these cards? I told her XXXX on both and she said so a total of XXXX and I said yes maam I pay with my cash card. It goes through. I text XXXX and tell him that Im on the way back to work that Ive got the two XXXX  cards, and then I will send him the information as soon as I can. Before any of this happens, I had actually contacted the bank Truist Bank and asked the bank teller who made the deposit on my account because I was curious at this point if this was an actual legit loan he wanted me to get gift cards. So the lady goes to tell me that it was made a deposit and several days later I found out that if that was the case then I had actually deposited this check into my own account.. but thats not what happened had gotten into my account and presented himself as me. So, at first I didnt know what a deposit so I told the lady that I was speaking with I was like OK because Im trying to receive Loan and I had to make a verification deposit in order to be approved for the fund and the lady said OK and I told her thank you and have a great day. So that shouldve been a flag for the bank. They should have put a hold or stop on my account and not received any more deposits transactions and so forth if Im calling about a deposit in which I apparently Have sent through, but Im calling to ask you sent them. Anyhow once I get back to work, I connect back with XXXX on the phone and I ask him some further questions about this loan. The first question was I really going to receive my promise alone if I send these cards and their information to him he convinced me that this was true, and that there are a lot of scammers out there however, he is not one. He told me he was an honest man and hes just working for XXXX XXXX XXXX. He told me I could look at the reviews And hes been doing this for the last seven years and he promises soon as I send over the card information within two hours. I will see my loan deposited to my account. So here I sit with two gift cards that I purchased with the verification deposit and I want to send this money back because its not my money. and in order for me to do that I had to send off this information. He asked me to send it through picture so I took two pictures of the cards and also took pictures of the receipt sent these to him and he let me know that he had received them and then he was getting ready to process the cards and then, as soon as the cards have processed, hes going to process my loan he said give them within two hours. I told him I was like all right I was like man please dont screw me over Ive got enough going on in my life right now. And once again, he had told me that he is real. This is not a scam and then I will see my money within the next two hours. I asked like well how am I supposed to make my payments? You never told me hes like XXXX will be ducted off of your account each month for the next XXXX  months And I said ok. The card information via text message, which came from the verification deposit even began to tell me he was processing the cards.  Around 40 minutes later, he told me that the cars were still processing and asked me how I was doing.. I told him Im very anxious to receive this loan because I need a car which was the reason behind it. He said Im sure you, XXXX XXXX your money. Will be there as soon as these cards are processed.. so I tell him OK. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  had called me and told me that he had process alone to do it credit bureau and they had placed hold on it. He told me that the reason behind this was because my credit score was not high enough. I needed to have a XXXX in order to receive his XXXX loan. at the time my credit score was at XXXX with 100% payment history and One open account. so he told me in order for me to get my credit score up with my permission. He would deposit two more verifications into my account and told me that as the credit bureaus see this money going into your account clearly they were recognize I will be able to afford the XXXX  loan and not only that it will increase my credit score to a XXXX. I am very weary about this entire situation but Ill allow him to once again place this deposited into my account. so later on that day shortly after I got off work around XXXX and XXXX the deposit hit my account One deposit was valued at XXXX and the second deposit was valued at XXXX when I seen the value of these deposits I was a little concerned. he text me and told me that the deposits have been made and the funds will be available in the morning after review of my account. There was a hold immediately placed on these checks and the release was set for XXXX XXXX XXXX at this point my communication with XXXXn has dissipated because he is now suspecting that I know whats going on. so at this point is put on hold I cant withdraw or anything from my account so I called the bank and asked him what was going on and they told me that I have an administrative hold on my account and that I need to call this number and also the guy gave me this claim number (XXXX XXXX XXXX Fraud department) so I reach out to them and they tell me that I have an administrative hold on my account and that its under investigation. So no money can come in and no money can come out. On XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I had received my payroll direct deposited in the amount of XXXX. As the day goes on around XXXX I check the status of my account and see that its now at a negative balance of  XXXX  so I immediately call the bank and ask him whats going on let them know what my account is saying so what happened was is the XXXX that was sent was actually a bad check and so there is a deposit, and they took the money from my account to cover the XXXX they had been removed. Ive been back-and-forth with the bank and the fraud people since XXXX XXXX and it has extended to todays date which is XXXX XXXX XXXX Im still trying to resolve this issue with the bank but now theyre trying to tell me that the bank is done all they can do and that I now have to pay the balance that is due which is now XXXX. This is before they can even proceed with my investigation of my claim. So now Im reaching out to you and this complaint I dont feel like its right, but I should be owing the bank being that Im a victim of a scam.. I do have pictures of the conversation pictures of the check in which were deposited and pictures of the card in which I sent to him via text message. I can send those to you through email if you can provide me with One thank you for your time. I hope we get to the bottom of this. The bank is not standing by their policy and I reminded them that they should I dont feel like Im being treated right and I definitely dont feel like Im being heard. which is another reason why Im reaching out to you.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation