Consumer complaint received 2022-02-07
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: IL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I received a text that appeared to be from Chase Bank Fraud Department asking if I had attempted a {$5000.00} XXXX transfer and to reply YES or NO if this was me. Before I was able to respond I got a call from a Chase number to follow up about this activity. The person on the other end was very cordial and identified themselves as a representative from chase 's fraud claims department. They then were able to verify my bank account and ID and proceeded to ask me about recent transactions across multiple bank accounts I have. Including my personal checking and business checking accounts. They went line by line asking if I had made a number of transactions. 

The only one that stood out as fraud was a {$5000.00} XXXX transfer that I wasn't able to see on my account. They said this was because it had been flagged as fraudulent and stopped before it could be processed. They then said we would need to dispute this charge with XXXX in order to prevent it from transferring out of my account. 

They then had me fill out a " dispute form '' with XXXX by creating a transaction with a very specific set of criteria including a dispute number, dispute ID with my name ( XXXX - which ended up being a fraudulent email address they created in my name ) as well as including the memo 'zelle dispute waiver '. 

Up until this point, everything had seemed pretty standard and normal. At this point though it felt as though this had crossed a line of being standard practice to something that seemed suspicious. I told them this didn't seem right to me and they assured me it was in fact the appropriate recourse. They assured me once again they were Chase by providing me a case reference number and advising me that the number they were calling from was the same phone number on the back of my chase card. 

I hesitated but unsure of what to do and convinced by them someone was trying to steal {$5000.00} dollars from me I processed the XXXX dispute which ended up being a payment transferring {$5000.00} to the email address they set up in my name ( XXXX ) They assured me they would make sure the charges were blocked and set up a follow-up call with me the next day at XXXX am. I was told to stay off my Chase account for 24-48 hrs to make sure my account could reset and we hung up. 

My instinct was that something weird had just happened so when I got off the call I googled " XXXX scam '' and the first article that came up reflected my experience. I immediately went directly to my chase branch to see if they could confirm my suspicions and stop the transaction before it was processed. I was told it was not chase 's fraud department that had called and they the dispute was, in fact, a XXXX transaction depositing {$5000.00} in the fraudsters account which they were unable to trace. 

Chase changed all my account information and filed a claim with their internal investigation team. I was told they would try to get the money back but if they couldn't get it back via zelle I would likely be out that {$5000.00} and to talk to my accountant about the loss. 

While I was at the Chase branch I also filled out a dispute form directly with XXXX on their website. I received a confirmation via their web portal but never heard anything from them regarding my claim or issue. 

At this point I filed a police report with the XXXX police department. 

The next day I received a call from the fraudsters. They said they were able to stop the first payment and that it would take a few days to be placed back in my account but that there were 3 other charges they had flagged as suspicious. That the 3 charges were each for $ 5K and that I would need to repeat the actions from yesterday to make sure those didn't post. I told them I wanted their Chase employee number. They told me they could not provide that. I said I wanted to speak with their manager. They said their manager would be calling and would provide their employee ID. I got a call while on the phone with them from the said number. They said it was their manager. At this point, I told them I knew they weren't chase. They attempted to reassure me that they were in fact Chase. I told them not to call anymore. 

The following week I received a letter from chase stating they had reviewed my case and that because my claim was for a scam and not fraud I would not be able to be reimbursed for the amount that was taken. 

Several days later I received a call from chase again saying my claim had been elevated because I filed a police report. I have not spoken to chase since this call but as it stands they have not offered me a reimbursement for the money that was stolen.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation