Consumer complaint received 2019-07-29
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Traveler's check or cashier's check
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2016, my colleague XXXX XXXX and I entered into contracts with XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX, Nevada, who presented to me that he was the agent for XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ), XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). The agreement was for payment for appearances by these three artists at an event on which I was working in the XXXX Area. At the direction of Mr. XXXX, we were to deposit into his account certain agreed upon sums. The deposits into Mr. XXXX XXXX account were as follows : XX/XX/2016 - {$4000.00} ( Check XXXX. XXXX ) deposited at US Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  - {$6000.00} ( Check No. XXXX ) deposited at US Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX An additional {$3500.00} was further deposited in form of a cashiers check to a US Bank in XXXX, CA by my colleague XXXX XXXX. 

After notifying Mr. XXXX of the deposits to his account, Mr. XXXX stated that hed not received the money. Therefore, on XX/XX/2016, I went to U.S. Bank again and asked the representative if the previous cashiers check for {$6000.00} had cleared. The representative stated that the check had not yet cleared. I then deposited {$1500.00} cash into Mr. XXXX account, and as soon as that deposit was made, the representative then stated that the previous cashiers check had in fact cleared and that Mr. XXXX had withdrawn XXXX XXXX Dollars ( {$5000.00} ) from the account. 
The total sum of the monies deposited into Mr. XXXX account was XXXX XXXX XXXX ( {$15000.00} ). 

On XX/XX/2016, I telephoned Mr. XXXX to inform him that the US Bank representative confirmed that the cashiers check of {$6000.00} deposited to his account had cleared. Mr. XXXX was upset that US Bank confirmed to me the clearing of the previous deposit. At this point, I suspected that we may have been a victim of fraud because the bank is saying that the check has cleared, whereas Mr. XXXX continued to state that he didn't receive the money. 

Upon this realization, I went to the US Bank branches in XXXX and XXXX XXXX and requested a stop payment on all checks deposited by us claiming fraud. The XXXX US Bank branch requested that I bring all documents and contracts to them. As requested, I did so and US Bank put a block on Mr. XXXX account while a pending investigation in this matter was in effect. 

On XX/XX/2016, US Bank returned to me {$4000.00}, and they told me that I should contact XXXX  XXXX XXXX to file a claim against Mr. XXXX for fraud. I filed a fraud claim with XXXX  XXXX XXXX ; however, with respect {$6000.00} deposit, XXXX  XXXX XXXX stated that the Payee received the benefit of the funds, and therefore would not reimburse me for this amount. 

Moreover, on XX/XX/2016, I went to the XXXX Police Department to file a police report on this matter. While I was there, the police placed a telephone call to Mr. XXXX to question him about this incident. Mr. XXXX did not answer and did not return the call. 

As a longstanding patron of US Bank and of XXXX XXXX XXXX and with a significant number of family members being longtime employees of XXXX XXXX XXXX, I expected more than what I received in this situation. The inconsistency in the policies is disgraceful. On the one hand, US Bank returned {$4000.00} into my account when check had already cleared understanding the fraudulent activities by Mr. XXXX, but refused to return any additional deposit amounts and instead directing me to file a claim with XXXX XXXX XXXX. This is blatantly inconsistent and I request that XXXX XXXX XXXX, either itself or with US Bank, pursue my claim and issue me a refund of the remaining amount due ( {$11000.00} ). I agree to assist in any way I can in the prosecution of Mr. XXXX. 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

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