Consumer complaint received 2023-04-21
Company: CADENCE BANK
State: AL
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/XXXX, I received a notification from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that a party was interested in the XXXX XXXX XXXX that I had for sale on the website. I responded to the interested party that went by the name of XXXX XXXX. We exchanged 3 or 4 emails and arrived at an agreed upon price for the car, extra parts that I had available, and I agreed to assist him with shipping the car to California using some of the money that he would provide. 

I received a cashiers check from XXXX XXXX, XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I took the cashier 's check in the amount of {$17000.00} to the Cadence Bank location in XXXX, TN and deposited the check to my checking account. I asked the teller when the check would clear since the check was for the sale of a vehicle. The teller stated that the funds should appear in my account the next business day which was XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I logged into my account to determine whether the check had cleared and the funds had posted to my account as the teller previously indicated. I expected that the check would appear in my account with a Pending status however the funds appeared in my account without a pending status leading me to believe that the check had cleared. The online transaction history is attached for reference. Since the online statement made it appear that the check had cleared, I proceeded to take action to complete the sale of the vehicle for which the check was issued. Feeling secure in the knowledge that the funds were firmly in my account I proceeded to purchase money orders in the amount of {$4600.00} to pay for the transport of the vehicle to California On XX/XX/XXXX, without any notification Cadence bank debited my account for {$17000.00} because the check had been returned by the issuing bank. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a Detail Listing of Returned Checks document in my mail. The document included a {$10.00} fee for the returned check. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the bank to speak with a manager about this issue. I explained to the manager that I was waiting for the check to officially clear before I took any action related to the sale of the vehicle and that because the funds appeared to be solidly in my account, I proceeded to take an action that I would not have otherwise taken. I informed her of the misinformation provided by the teller which also played a part in the success of the fraud scheme. The manager indicated that because I am a good customer the funds were made available immediately. I informed her that the check was not from me or anyone that I knew and that I was depending on the bank to notify me by way of the posting status or another means when the check cleared. 

If the bank teller had provided correct clearing information or had information been provided on the banks on-line system regarding when the check cleared the issuing/payor bank this entire situation could have been avoided. The misinformation provided by the teller and the inability to verify the availability of the funds in Cadence Banks online system facilitated the fraud that occurred. 

XX/XX/XXXX Per information available on the Cadence Bank website, I filed a formal complaint with the Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received an e-mail response from XXXX XXXX, Investigator, Depart of Savings and Mortgage Lending indicating that this was not the appropriate agency for this claim. The response included information regarding 2 Federal Agencies ( Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ) that we could consider filing a complaint with. 

XX/XX/XXXX Upon reviewing the information on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency website I heeded the guidance that indicated I should follow up with my bank. I contacted the Cadence Bank Personal Banking Customer Support line at XXXX XXXX and described the situation to the support specialist. The specialist indicated that I would be contacted by someone from the bank. No response has been received as of XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation