Consumer complaint received 2023-01-31
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
At XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, I receive a call from XXXX. It is one of the board numbers listed on the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Sheriff Office XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I miss the call but check the voicemail they left. It said " yes this message is for XXXX  ( my name ) ... this is XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Sheriff Department... you can reach me at field device number ... that number is XXXX " When I check the missed call was in fact listed on the Sheriff Office website, I call back at the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Time. This person, supposedly XXXX XXXX XXXX, answers my call and explains that I missed a court appearance and was being held in contempt of court. The case materials for jury duty were served in-person. When I said that I did not receive, he said that my matter would be processed as DNR ( Did Not Receive ). Then he advised that per the Judge orders, I have 72 hours to be criminally charged and arrested or be processed in a civil proceeding. The civil proceeding would involve a payment of bail money ( refundable ) for {$3000.00} for contempt and another {$3000.00} for XXXX ( do not remember what it stands for ). He also said that per procedure I can not hang up and talk to anyone else. If I do not comply, I would be deemed as absconding and my XXXX XXXX license would also be tarnished and potentially lose my employment prospects as well. Then he transferred me over a XXXX XXXX who walked me through to process the payment via XXXX, a funds transfer service that most bank apps use. They suggested that due to COVID, procedures were updated and they could take payments over the phone. I could not believe I was doing it. As there was limit, I ended up processing 2 payments, one for {$5000.00} ( from Chase Bank ) and another for {$3500.00} ( from XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ). They put me on-hold for several minutes on the phone and then said that the subpoena has been lifted and I need to an additional sum. This was for finger-printing analysis as the case materials that were supposedly served to me in-person ( that they had mentioned earlier above ) were fraudulently received by someone else on my behalf. So this XXXX XXXX suggested I use XXXX XXXX. When XXXX XXXX blocked the transfer, it occurred to me that it is very likely to be a scam. So I reported it to XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX dispatched a police officer to make the above notes. I am not sure why he asked if I wanted to press charges or not. He also advised that the likelihood of this scammer being caught is low. While I have reported this to the banks that I use, I am very skeptical if all this would make any difference let alone recover the money. Chase Bank said that while the money transferred was in response to the scam, they may not be able to recover it. And I thought they had insurance coverage or somehow be able to reverse the transfer since I reported it right away. As a law-abiding citizen, I truly believe I did the right thing to cooperate with law enforcement but lost money in the process. I hope the banks to cooperate and hold someone accountable somehow for what happened to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation