Consumer complaint received 2018-11-15
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
I address to you at this opportunity in order to request the following : opened an account from XXXX in the XXXX XXXX XXXX, Client Number XXXX XXXX, which had an office in the City of XXXX , XXXX . 
This bank closed its facilities and sent Bank representatives to XXXX who said that her account had passed to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX, with the same account number. The Account was managed from XXXX which evidences the existence of the account and the address which In the last quarter of XXXX, my client was informed that XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX, was no longer going to operate and that her account would be transferred to HSBC BANK USA. On XXXX, my client receives a notification to her son 's email which is : XXXX which said that she had to sign the master deposit On XXXX HSBC BANK USA, opens the account Number in my name, having been present to provide any security data for the Bank. 
On XXXX, my client received an email from HSBC BANK USA to send the transfer instructions. On XXXX in the same an email receives instructions to close the account i had in The In order to expand the information about it, to which he received no response. By the time the account still could not be used. 
On XXXX and XXXX, i sent an email requesting information for the account for not having received any type of communication. On XXXX my client sends an email in which i indicates that i wants to travel very soon in order to fix the situation in that financial institution. On XXXX i receives a communication stating that after so much time, i must inform in advance what day they will be in the city to make an appointment. On XXXX i receives an email in which is instructed to contact the Bank ; due to the situation of the country in XXXX, it is almost impossible to communicate with the United States and, as we have already stated, when they called to request authorization for a card or account to be paid, they did not respond and the account could not be activated. i thought it was the same .On XXXX an email was sent stating the following : " Good afternoon, sorry I did not answer you before. I do not have the pleasure of meeting you since the contact I have had has been with Mrs. XXXX and I made arrangements with her to make a personal visit to fix our situation ( my mothers and mine ) before this prestigious banking institution, but our visit has been delayed. I am at your disposal for what you need. My phone numbers : home and cell ". 
The email was underlined and bold as the example above. As seen in the email, by this date, it had been impossible to use the bank account in HSBC BANK USA. And the account had been having movements, the money had been withdrawn through ATMs, checks, etc. and they never notified my client, instead they kept silent. 
On XXXX i received an email from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Premier Relationship Manager, who said they could be calm knowing that their accounts were in good hands, as it should be, because when someone has an account in a bank, it is for the security that this provides in the custody of the money ( attachment marked " O '' ). 
On XXXX they sent an email in which they said the following : " I take the opportunity to consult you if you are the person in charge of my account, since I had always had contact with Mrs. XXXX and I would be interested in getting in touch as I am trying to schedule a flight to update my account and know which branch to go. ( ... ) I await for your response, thank you. " In this email they point out that they are going to update the account, which they had not done until this date and they could not use the money. They obtained the following answer : ( ... ) " If you are around here, please stop by. I'm located on the same office, the XXXX one. Happy birthday again = ) ( ... ) ". 
Never did they tell her that the account was active, or that the money was being moved, or anything like that. ( attachment marked " P '' ). 
On Monday XXXX, XXXX AM i sent an email that says the following : ( ... ) " To : XXXX ; Good morning, I need to talk with you I have called your phone number that appears in your email and I have not had been able to connect with you, please when you can send me a number where I can contact you, Thank you, Mobile phone ". 
It should be noted that the communication my with HSBC BANK USA, always was from the an email .com, and the phone number indicated for contact Mobile phone. 
In view of not having been able to communicate with HSBC BANK USA, and in order to update her account, meaning in order to move and use my money, on XX/XX/XXXX, i went to the offices of HSBC BANK USA, located in XXXX ; i found out that what i had not been able to do for years ( which was to activate my account, until she personally went to the Bank 's offices ) someone had done it already, either inside or outside the bank and my account was in negative balance. 
Now, in summary, the situation is that her account comes from the XXXX XXXX XXXX, Client NumberXXXX, which had an office in the City of XXXX, XXXX. As this bank closed, the account passed to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX, which my client always managed from XXXX. i was never in the offices of HSBC BANK USA, located in XXXX, or any other office of that institution in order to personally appear and provide the information required to use the account. It should be noted that whenever i called the HSBC BANK USA Offices, located in XXXX, she was told to go personally in order to identify myself and fill thenecessary steps to activate the account. 
Not only the account had been used, but they had also changed the an email, address and telephone number and that the money had disappeared, and that we must wait for a mail from the bank to make the report, which we received on XX/XX/XXXX. 
This mail indicated as address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, FL XXXX, which is not and has never been her address. The address is in XXXX,, as indicated by the XXXX XXXX XXXX  account statements, Client Number - XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX   XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX. 
According to what is evidenced by the XXXX  and XXXX passports my i never traveled to the United States or to XXXX, nor to any other country ; which is why she could not have been in the Bank 's offices to change the email, address and telephone number. i was never in any office to fill out the forms and sign them, we do not know how they activated the account, they delivered a card and they opened a current account and they issued a checkbook. 
When i personally showed up at the Bank, they did not give my the account statements even though i had proved my identity, they did not give my information on how, when and where the account was activated. The address being used by the bank was XXXX XXXX, a shipping service. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, i went to the offices of HSBC BANK USA, located in XXXX, with the purpose of delivering a mail regarding the account Number ; in which she requested information on why her account was activated, if i had always been told when she communicated with the Bank 's Executives that until i personally addressed the Bank 's Offices, i could not use the Account, and that someone had done it, either inside or outside the bank and that my account was in negative balance. 
i noted the following : " ( ... ) I still have not received an answer for these questions : how did they activate the account, issued a card and checks? I personally, despite having identified myself, did not receive information on how, when and where was the account activated. 
I request the refund of the money of the transactions done with debit card from the XX/XX/XXXX to the XX/XX/XXXX and the refund of the money paid by the bank for the checks : XXXX for an amount of {$8300.00}, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX for an amount of {$7800.00}, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX for an amount of {$9200.00}, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX for an amount of {$9000.00}, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX for an amount of {$7500.00}, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$8000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX for an amount of {$9500.00} XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX for an amount of {$8500.00} XX/XX/XXXX These checks were paid by the Bank between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 
So : 1. My account was never activated, 2. I never received a checkbook to use it since they told me that I should fix my situation in the Bank Offices and for that I had to personally go to the HSBC XXXX Office ; which I did not do until XX/XX/XXXX I see with extreme concern the ease with which they could use my debit card and checkbook and as in a month with checks over {$5000.00}, totaling {$67000.00}, the Bank allowed the payment of them, even when the account was inactive for a long time. I also request the refund of transactions identified as PAYMENT XXXX XXXX-CASH FOR THE AMOUNTS OF {$7500.00} and {$9800.00} DATED XXXX AND XXXX. For the reasons indicated above. 
On XXXX XXXX I made a report to XXXX Police Department case number XXXX. 
How is it possible that an account that was inactive for more than nine ( 9 ) years, for not having been opened according to the Bank 's requirements, had in one month transactions for more than XXXX XXXX AND XXXX XXXX DOLLARS ( {$150000.00} ), WITHOUT YOU BLOCKING AND TAKING THE CORRESPONDING SECURITY MEASURES? 
You as custodians of my money must guarantee to me even the last dollar that was deposited in my Account, because you were in the obligation to take care of it and have all the necessary means to activate the account and so you let me know when, on repeated occasions, you indicated me that to activate it, I had to go to the Bank 's offices in XXXX to fill out the forms and sign. I believe that you should do a thorough investigation of this situation as this generates me little credibility in the bank, and you should respond for my money and for all the damages and losses that this has caused me. 
I do not recognize any transaction, deposit or transfer that had been made, in any way, in my account, either by debit card, check or any form of withdrawal that had been used, and I request the refund of all transaction which could never have been made by me, since never did I go to the Bank 's offices to sign any form, nor did I change address, an email or telephone, and they were charged to my account ( ... ) ". 
Notably, the HSBC IN XXXX ; acknowledged that there was a banking fraud and reversed the consumptions made with the debit card from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ( attachment marked " T '' ). Even though in emails sent on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX ( attachment marked " T '' ) i continues to demand the refund of the money, on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX a.m. i finally obtained an answer : ( ... ) " Denying the claim of the fraudulent check since too many days have passed ( months ). There is no other instance where to scale the case. All departments say you took too long to start the claim. I know that this is not the information that you are waiting for and if there was someone to continue talking with, we would connect you with that person ( ... ) ". 
To which i responds on XX/XX/XXXX asking if they made an administrative investigation within the Bank, because of the strangeness of the situation. 
From which she received as an answer : " ( ... ) Before the fraud happened, the account was not " closed '' as you thought. An account can not be closed if it has funds inside. What I think happened when you called the branch to get information, is that we are not allowed to give information by phone at the branch level when we have not met the client personally. 
For example, if you had called me a year ago to ask for information about the account, I would have said " Mr. XXXX, since we do not know you personally yet, you should call customer service to get information about your account '' What I want you to understand is that this account was always open, and all the fraud was done by someone who called customer service, and knew the responses and answered all of your mom 's personal questions correctly ( ... ) ".

I wonder what personal questions, if there was never an opportunity to create them. 
On XX/XX/XXXX i sent an email again indicating that although the account was open, it could not be used, until the owner appeared personally to provide the data and to create a password, a user and some security questions that would let you know that this is the account holder. I told them that it was really an odyssey at that time to accessmy account with the multiple requirements of the bank as we know, because we just went through that, to be able to access the account online despite having attended the XXXX XXXX and to have your wonderful collaboration, it was quite difficult, because we had to request access to you. 
Later we had to wait for a password that would arrive by an email, a key that would reach the indicated cell phone and after we placed those passwords we had to wait for the Bank 's security to allow us to enter, the question is : did the Bank conduct the administrative investigation, with the purpose of knowing how these procedures were done in order to activate the account? Where was the information stolen in order to change the email and the telephone number to which the account was associated? If the owner never showed up at the XXXX  to identify myrself and activate the account with all the security mechanisms that you have. 
If an investigation ha been made I would like you to tell me what the result was and the number of it. If they have support on how and what were the security data that was provided for the account in question. 
I subsequently sent an email on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX until he received the reply that they could not resolve anything and at never conducted an administrative investigation in order to determine the bank 's responsibility I request your good offices to open the investigation of the case, to determine if there was bank fraud and the responsibility of HSBC Bank USA, N.A., in the same, or negligence of the institution to allow the use of the account, since even though that financial institution acknowledged that there was banking fraud, because it returned to my client the transactions made with debit cards XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX ; they do not recognize the rest of the consumptions made with the debit and checkbook card ; as in a month with checks over {$7000.00}, totaling $ XXXX.The Bank allowed the payment of these, even though the account was inactive for a long time, in addition to transactions identified as : PAYMENT XXXX XXXX-CASH FOR THE AMOUNTS OF {$7500.00} and {$9800.00} DATED XXXX AND XXXX XXXX. 
For a month the Bank allowed the use of an inactive account with transactions without blocking the account or requiring the presence of the account holder in the Bank 's offices in order to identify and recognize the transactions, and allowed the change of address, email and telephone number. The only true data that they had of my client, without demanding the physical presence and identification of her, they approved the change of all the data without confirming said data with the only thing they had as a form ofcommunication which was the email address. 
How is it possible that an account that was inactive for more than nine ( 9 ) years, for not having been opened according to the requirements of the Bank and demanding the presence of the holder of the same had in one month used more than XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX DOLLARS ( {$150000.00} ), WITHOUT HSBC Bank USA, N.A. HAVE ITBLOCKED AND TAKEN THE CORRESPONDING SECURITY MEASURES? 
It is really strange that this has happened without the participation of people from the same Bank, since normally when an account does not have regular movements and suddenly begins to have them, the Financial Institutions block them and invite the client to personally go to the Bank. As indicated by my in one of my emails : " ( ... ) because we just went through that, to be able to access the account online despite having attended the XXXX XXXX and having the collaboration of the account executive, it was quite difficult, because we had to request the access, then had to wait for a key that would arrive by an email and a key that would reach the indicated cell phone and after these keys were placed we had to wait for the Bank 's security to allow us to enter, ''. 
The question is whether the Bank conducted the administrative investigation, with the purpose of knowing how these procedures were done in order to activate the account, from where the information was subtracted to be able to change the an email and the telephone number to which the account was associated? If the owner never showed up at the XXXX to identify myself and activate the account with all the security mechanisms that you have. If an inquiry has been done, I would like you to tell me what the result was and the number of it. If they have support on how and what were the security data that was provided for the mentioned account. 
I believe that a thorough investigation of this situation should be done, the Bank must be accountable for the money of my, which totals {$67000.00} in checks, the Bank allowed the payment of the same, even though the account was inactive for a long time, also transactions identified as : PAYMENT XXXX XXXX-CASH FOR THE AMOUNTS OF {$7500.00} and {$9800.00} dated XXXX and XXXX. {$17000.00}, transactions of debitcards over {$50000.00} and for all the damages and losses that this situation has caused. I respectfully request that this document be processed according to law.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation